Rirī Kasai
by Galinia
Summary: In Ancient Japan, during the time of Gods, Demons, and war, a young swords woman wanders the country looking to help those who cannot help themselves. One rainy night in the woods, she finds this task isn't as easy as the previous times. A silver fox demon proves to be the most powerful foe she had ever encountered. "Spread horrifying rumors of my existence. Make me a legend."
1. Chapter 1

Rirī walked through the woods, her hand resting comfortably on her sword. Rain fell around her, the air filled with the small pitter-patter of the tears from the sky. Rirī didn't mind the rain. Back in her country, rain was welcomed and seen as good luck. Here, in this country, people cursed the sky for its tears, and Rirī always found it strange.  
She suddenly heard the familiar sound of footsteps. The pace was at running speed; frantic running that was sloppy and easily overtaken. Rirī braced herself upon hearing the footsteps running towards her, poised to draw her sword. A man stumbled in front of her, but failed to notice her presence, and continued running, but was shot in the side by an arrow. Determined to help, Rirī ran forward and stood between the fallen man and his pursuers, who remained hiding. She drew her sword and took a defensive position.  
"I know you're there. Show yourself!" She yelled. She gasped when seven demons stepped before her. They all looked alike aside from their leader, who wore a white Chinese tunic. He was a fox demon, already a thousand years old. He glared at Rirī.  
"Step aside; I have no desire to kill a woman today." He said his voice low.  
Rirī didn't back down.  
"You better have a good reason for hunting this man; else I will have to kill you." She said in a hard voice.  
He gave her a glare and a demon shot an arrow at her.  
Faster than the naked eye could see, she blocked the arrow with her sword; the sound of the collision rang through the rainy wood.  
Rirī glared at them and took a more threatening stance.  
"As I said, a good reason?" She said.  
The silver fox demon seemed impressed by her maneuver, and stepped forward.  
"That man has done nothing wrong. His family was very wealthy and being bandits, we are attracted to wealth." He said.  
Rirī glared at the fox demon.  
"What do you mean 'was'? Don't tell me you killed his family?" She cried out in anger.  
The other demons laughed at her outburst while the fox demon smirked and Rirī was hit with the horrific truth.  
"How could you, you nasty scum!" She yelled.  
"I suppose you mean to protect that man then." The fox observed.  
Rirī's eyes narrowed in hate.  
"You got that damn right. So unless you want to be skinned, I suggest you get out of here." She hissed.  
The fox grinned and a cry of pain was heard behind her. Rirī's eyes widened and whirled around to see the injured man she was trying so hard to save, impaled with vines from the earth. The vines recoiled and returned to their master, the fox demon.  
Rirī's thoughts went by quickly. If she were alone, she would rush forward and take the archers out first, but she wasn't alone and the man behind her was dying or dead. Quickly she drew a few knives from her sleeve and threw, the small blades lodging themselves in the archers' throats. She quickly ran forward and attacked the three other demons. It wasn't a particularly easy fight. The men came at her all at once, not giving her much time to form a strategy. She slammed her elbow into the nose of the man behind her, killing him instantly, while thrusting her sword into the stomach of one of the men in front of her. The other two came at her from her sides and they were too slow to land a blow that could've pierced her left arm. However, she kicked his legs out from under him and easily killed him once he was off balance and swung her sword around to kill the other man in the same strike.  
She panted heavily and ran forward to the fox demon with a yell of anger.  
He smirked and a vine pierced her side, causing her to stop, merely inches from hitting her target. Her mouth was wide open and she was panting, trying to get past the pain, but it brought tears to her eyes and she cried out in pain.  
The fox walked up to her and shoved the blade-like vine further into her body, causing a scream to rip through the air. In response he leaned forward and whispered in her ear.  
"I won't kill you, pet. I want you to live and spread horrifying rumors of my existence. Make me a legend." He whispered almost romantically.  
Rirī clenched her teeth in anger and pain.  
"Bastard, I will never do that. You may as well kill me." she hissed.  
He chuckled.  
"You'll do this for me girl. Tell the world of the legendary Youko." He said.  
Then he pulled away from her and yanked his weapon from her body and she fell to the ground.  
Rirī gripped her sword and tried to stand, glaring after the fox's retreating form.  
"Get back here, bandit. I'm not through with you yet." She growled.  
He glanced over his shoulder and gave her a kind smile.  
"You're a persistent human. If we weren't enemies, I would keep you. "He said.  
At that, Rirī nearly roared in anger.  
"Keep me? You sick bastard, I'll kill you!" She yelled.  
She managed to get to her feet but fell to the ground. She looked up to glare at the fox demon but saw he wasn't smirking at her. No, his expression was sad, but quickly changed back to the cocky expression he wore before.  
"Good luck pet." He said, and then disappeared.  
Rirī glared after him but her head swam and she fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

Rirī woke to find she was no longer in the woods. The ceiling above her was beautiful and expensive. It looked like marble, the way the colors of the stone swirled around. She moved her hands at her sides and could tell the sheets were silk. She sighed in contentment.  
Whoever saved her was wealthy, no question about it.  
Suddenly she heard voices approach the door and people walked in.  
The first was a woman from the west, her blonde hair piled high on her head in curls, her lips painted red and she was garbed in a huge dress. Her blue eyes smiled as she looked down on Rirī.  
The second person was a butler who appeared to be a native to this country. He had an indifferent expression.  
"O thank goodness you're awake miss; we were scared you would never wake!" The western woman said.  
Rirī looked to her in confusion and the woman laughed.  
"I'm sorry, please let me introduce myself. I am Sophie Collins. My husband was that man in the woods you saved." She said.  
"Husband?" Rirī asked. Not because she questioned Mrs. Collins, but because she swore that she saw that man die.  
Mrs. Collins nodded. "Yes, I was away on a holiday when those demons came and attacked the house and killed everyone inside. When the police caught up to my husband, he was barely alive, like you. We were amazed to find that a wanderer from the East had saved my Eric. A woman on top of that was just astonishing. The press can't get enough of it!"  
Rirī looked away from the woman and closed her eyes. Women like her were why she couldn't stand the West. They lived for attention and gossip.  
"By the way, what is your name miss?"  
Rirī looked over to the woman.  
"Kasai" She said simply, not stating her true name, but the name her mother's people gave her to use as a wanderer.  
"Kasai, that's the Eastern word for fire." Mrs. Collins observed.  
Rirī nodded and Mrs. Collins smiled.  
"Well, Ms. Kasai, thank you for saving my husband. I assure you that you will be treated with the upmost care. Lombard here will see to that. When you feel better he will show you around the estate. You're welcome to stay as long as you like." She said.  
Lombard gave a smile to Rirī, a smile that had a secret behind it.  
It was fake.  
"Well, I will let you rest Ms. Kasai. Farewell!" Mrs. Collins said then left.  
When the woman was gone Lombard bowed low before Rirī.  
"Thank you for saving Master Collins. He is such a kind man and I would hold myself responsible if anything bad happened to him." He said.  
Rirī gave him a nod, but her mind was racing with suspicion.  
"It was merely chance I had found him." She said simply.  
Lombard bit his lip a bit but smiled again.  
"Whatever you're reasoning Ms. Kasai, I am grateful to you." He said, bowing again then leaving.  
Rirī looked after him and glared.  
'Wasn't everyone in the house killed when those demons attacked this place?' She thought.  
She already had sniffed out a conspiracy, and she had only been conscious a few minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

Rirī woke to the evening sun shining through her window, not even remembering falling asleep. She sat up and stretched and sighed as her muscles woke from a long rest. She threw the covers off and swung her legs over the side, slowly so she wouldn't give herself a headache. She noticed she wore a white 'night gown' that was mostly worn by Western Women. She rolled her eyes and slid down until her feet touched the hardwood floor. It was cold and made her shiver for a moment then she gingerly stood. Suddenly the door opened, starling Rirī. Two maids entered the room, carrying clothing and- towels?  
"Hello Miss Kasai, Milady asked we bring you some cloths and draw you a bath. Said it would calm your nerves, that she did." The first one said, a plump blonde with a cheery face that was a little too happy for the situation.  
Rirī gave a confused look.  
"A bath?" She said, looking around.  
She didn't see a bath house anywhere near here.  
Then again, western people did almost everything differently.  
The smaller, shyer maid nodded.  
"Yes ma'am, we can take you there if you like." She whispered.  
She didn't meet Rirī's eyes when she spoke, her eyes showing mortal fear and Rirī decided something was amiss here.  
Yet, she smiled politely.  
"Yes, that would be nice." She said kindly.  
The two maids nodded, one more happily than the other, and turned from the room, leading Rirī down the hall to a bathroom of marble and gold. A big bath tub was at the other end of the room, a crystal chandler hanging elegantly over it. The room was filled with the scent of roses and fresh hot water.  
The cheery maid smiled a huge smile and set the towels down on a towel rack.  
"Here are you're towels miss Kasai." She said.  
She gave a stern glare to the smaller girl, who quickly ran forward and put the cloths down on some sort of counter and bowed quickly.  
The other maid rolled her eyes at the girl and smiled to Rirī.  
"Everything should be where you can reach it Miss. We'll be leaving you now." She said, pushing the other girl roughly out the door.  
Rirī glared at the closed door for a moment then undressed and slipped into the hot water of the tub.  
_'Something isn't right here. That woman is scared for her life. No, not for her life. She's scared of me.'_ She thought.  
She settled comfortably into the tub and closed her eyes in thought.  
_'But why?'_


	4. Chapter 4

Rirī was soon done with her bath and went to get dressed when she saw what she was given to ware.  
A huge pink dress that showed the top of her breasts and made the bottom half of her body look like a pastry convinced her to put the nightgown back on. She decided to ask for her normal cloths to be mended and returned to her.  
She walked out of the room, her orange hair tied up on top of her head neatly, though it was wet. She made her way through the hall, following the aroma of food. She hadn't realized hungry she was until the scent had hit her.  
Soon she found the dining room, which was a thousand times grander than the bathroom had been.  
A large mahogany table was in the center of the room, lined with gold candles and trimmed with lace.  
The lovely Mrs. Collins was sitting at the head of the table, chatting fondly with her husband, who looked better than Rirī did; he must've had better doctors, not that she cared.  
Mrs. Collins noticed her and smiled at first then frowned at her appearance.  
"Ms. Kasai, where on earth are your clothes?" She exclaimed, standing.  
Mr. Collins looked up from his meal and gave Rirī a nod of acknowledgement, gratefulness in his eyes.  
"I do not ware western clothing. Would it be alright for my own cloths to be mended?" Rirī asked.  
Mrs. Collins laughed.  
"O, Ms. Kasai, if you want a kimono, we have some here. I will have Nevaeh take you to your room and bring you some cloths." She said.  
"Might I eat first, Mrs. Collins? I am quite hungry." Rirī said.  
Mrs. Collins burst into hysterical laughter.  
"Are you mad? That's absurd; one doesn't eat without being properly dressed!" She exclaimed.  
Mr. Collins rolled his eyes at his wife.  
"Let the girl eat, Sophie. No one else is here." He said, his voice a gruff one; much different compared the screams of pain Rirī heard that night in the woods.  
Mrs. Collins gave a huff and sat back in her seat.  
"Very well, but I still think she should be properly dressed. What would the neighbors think? An Eastern woman being housed by us and she doesn't know how to properly dress herself? Absurd!" She exclaimed.  
"Sophie, if this woman wanted to eat sitting upside-down then would allow it. You forget that she saved my life. She some respect." Mr. Collins said.  
His wife snorted and slouched further into her seat, as far as her corset would allow anyway.  
"Well I am merely thinking of what the-"  
"That's enough Sophie."  
Rirī stood quietly in the doorway and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.  
"If it's not too much trouble, I would like those clothes you spoke of Mrs. Collins." She said.  
The woman perked up and smiled.  
"Wonderful! Nevaeh, dear, please take Ms. Kasai to her room and give her a kimono." She said.  
The shy girl from before came forward, bowed low to her mistress and went to stand in front of Rirī, avoiding her eyes.  
"Follow me, miss." She whispered, and then led Rirī down the hall.  
Rirī followed and pondered on why this girl was afraid of her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello my lovelies! I am so excited about this story, in case you haven't noticed. I have pre-written the first 28 chapters and been working on them for the last 3 weeks. I was going to wait until I wrote the entire story but I wanted to share my excitement with all of you. So Here is chapter 5 my dears! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing.  
-Gali**

Nevaeh led Rirī back to her room after stopping to grab a package given to her by Lombard. Once back to the bedroom, the maid presented Rirī with an emerald kimono. The silk was from China, so it was easy to tell it was a western imitation.  
Rirī put it on anyway and brushed out her, now dry, hair and put it into its normal ponytail. She found her shoes under her bed and put them on as well, happy to have a few things stay normal.  
She looked at Nevaeh, concerned.  
"Nevaeh, where is my sword?" she asked.  
The girl seemed to cower back even more and clutched her hands together over her chest tightly.  
"I don't know, miss. I didn't take it. My co-worker Lottie would know. She and Lombard were the ones who tended to you, and so did the Mistress. I am to mend your cloths." She said.  
Rirī's eyes narrowed and she noticed Nevaeh cower even more in response.  
"Nevaeh, how did all four of you survive the bandit attack? Everyone in the house was killed." She said.  
The girl clutched her hands together more and backed away, looking around frantically for an escape.  
"We were with the Mistress on a holiday." She said, but her voice gave away she was lying.  
"Is Mrs. Collins behind this?" Rirī asked, her voice no longer kind.  
Nevaeh's eyes narrowed and she drew a knife from her sleeve, thrusting it towards Rirī's chest. Rirī leapt back, Nevaeh jumping forward again and this time, Rirī dodged and grabbed the knife from the girl and twisted her arm behind her back. The maid cried out in pain but Rirī clamped her hand over her mouth to shush her.  
"I take it my assumption was correct." Rirī said roughly.  
Nevaeh struggled and tried to break from Rirī's grasp but had no luck against the swordswoman.  
Rirī removed her hand from the maid's mouth to let her speak.  
"Lady Sophie had to marry into wealth her whole life. She was used by men and when they grew tired of her they threw her to the streets. Lord Collins married her and saved her, but she told me that he too is growing tired of her and that soon she will go back to the streets." Nevaeh said.  
"You are in love with her." Rirī said, recognizing the tone in which the maid was talking.  
"Yes. My lady saved me from the city brothels and gave me this place to work and live without fear of being pushed around by men, since I am only to serve her and her female guests. I owed her everything. I was more than happy to help her." Nevaeh said softly.  
Rirī released the girl and glared at her.  
"So you took my sword so that I would be defenseless." She said.  
Nevaeh nodded.  
"The Mistress ordered it. She doesn't want you to interfere." She said.  
Rirī's eyes narrowed.  
"Interfere with what?" She asked.  
"Your murdering of Lord Eric."  
Rirī's brown eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock.  
"My murdering of Mr. Collins? How would taking my sword-"  
"You personally will not murder him, but your sword will." Nevaeh said.  
"So Mrs. Collins is going to use my sword and frame me for his death." Rirī said, summing up the whole thing.  
"Yes."  
Nevaeh fiddled with her hands a moment the met Rirī's eyes.  
"Ms. Kasai, I want you to stop my Mistress."  
Rirī raised an eyebrow.  
"Why is that? I thought you told me you loved her." She said, truthfully disgusted, but trying to maintain an optimistic mind.  
"I did. But I also, in a motherly way, loved her young son, Avery Collins. The lad was only five and was the light in my world. She promised me he would be kept safe. But he saw her talking with the demons and plotting the death of everyone living here. She left him there to be killed and he was. I could never love someone who could kill their own child so easily." Nevaeh said in a shaky voice.  
She looked up to Rirī with fierce eyes.  
"I want you to stop her from killing Lord Eric. I don't want anyone else to die." She said.  
Rirī nodded in understanding.  
"I will help you."


	6. Chapter 6

Rirī was led back into the dining room by a now relaxed Nevaeh.  
Mr. and Mrs. Collins were still seated at the table, Lombard pouring red English wine into their crystal glasses.  
Their plates of food from before had been taken away and they both smiled at Rirī's new attire.  
"Mush better Ms. Kasai! I must say that kimono suits you." Mrs. Collins said in a sing-song voice.  
"Indeed it does. Ms. Kasai, please come sit and eat." Mr. Collins said, his voice less excited and more polite.  
Rirī nodded and sat at Mrs. Collins' left and across from Mr. Collins.  
Lombard came forward and set a bowl of potato soup in front of her.  
"Arigato." She said.  
Lombard nodded.  
"Doitashimashite." He replied.  
Mrs. Collins clapped.  
"Oh, how grand! Chinese!" She exclaimed.  
Trying her best to be polite, Rirī spoke sternly.  
"Actually Mrs. Collins, it's Japanese. We are in Japan after all."  
Mr. Collins laughed, startling Rirī.  
"And soon the majority of it will speak English. It's how it should be." He said.  
Rirī glared at him a moment and began to stir her soup.  
"You are in our country, are you not? Would it not make sense for you to learn our language?" She asked.  
"How is it you know English, Ms. Kasai?" Mrs. Collins asked.  
Rirī met her gaze indifferently.  
"My father was not from this land. His people came from the country called Ireland. He left the country to work for the English and came over here, met my mother, thus I was born. We lived here for some time and soon my mother died and my father took me back to Ireland to raise me. After he died, I returned to these lands and learned to fight." She said.  
Both the Collins' sat quiet and staring.  
Rirī took a bite of her soup and looked up indifferently.  
"This is good."  
The rest of the meal, no one spoke. Rirī turned away from the wine and requested tea instead. English tea was strange but not bad.  
After finishing her food, Rirī looked up to Mrs. Collins.  
"If it's not too much trouble, I would like to stay until my clothes are mended." She said.  
The woman nodded.  
Rirī stood.  
"Thank you for the meal. I'll return to my room now." She said.  
"Nonsense Ms. Kasai! Come join us in the garden. There will be tea and Lombard will serve plenty of red wine." Mr. Collins said.  
Rirī smiled politely, but truly she was nervous.  
"Very well, I shall accompany you both if that is what you wish." She said.  
"Wonderful! Come on Eric, let's go!" Mrs. Collins exclaimed, jumping up quickly.  
The man nodded quietly and stood.  
Mrs. Collins went to the end of the dining room and opened the lovely French doors they were crested with gold. With a flutter of her skirt, she practically floated onto the stone porch.  
A garden lay before it, the beauty of it unknown by the outside world, for a great stone wall towered around its perimeter.  
Mrs. Collins inhaled though the nose and sighed contently, moving to the lovely chairs with chrisom pillows, flopping into one and fanning herself with her hand.  
"My heavens, that was just too much." She said.  
Rirī wasn't sure what the woman meant, so she waited for Mr. Collins to take his seat as well.  
She was about to move to sit down when a small flash of movement caught her eye.  
A small flash of white moved by in the garden a few yards away.  
"Mrs. Collins, would it be alright if I looked at your roses? I haven't seen such so lovely since I was a child." She said.  
The woman's eyes looked panicked and Rirī confirmed her suspicion the something was amiss. Mrs. Collins moved to make a reply when her husband broke in.  
"Why of course Kasai! Explore to your heart's content!" He said in drunken merriment.  
Rirī nodded, ignoring Mrs. Collins look of panic, making her way to the roses, out of the view of the porch.  
Her bamboo shoes clicked against the stone path and she listened to the sounds of the garden.  
Birds were chirping in the trees that kept the garden hidden, Mr. and Mrs. Collins were carrying on a conversation, but Rirī was too far away to hear their words.  
Suddenly she heard feet moving quietly to her right.  
Determined to ease her conscience and curiosity, she ran after the sound.


	7. Chapter 7

A few times, she caught a glimpse of who she was pursuing. It was the white figure she saw earlier. Finally she tricked him, leaping over a rose bush, landing in front of him, finally cornering him to find that he was the fox demon from the other night.  
"Ah, so you survived after all pet." He said, his tone as arrogant as ever.  
"What are you doing here bandit?" Rirī demanded.  
"I care for the garden." He said, smiling.  
Rirī glared at him skeptically.  
"That's a lie." She said, though she sounded uncertain.  
"No, I assure you, I am the caretaker of this garden." He said, giving her a sincere smile.  
The click of heels on the stone approached and Mrs. Collins rounded the corner.  
Her expression was nervous for a moment, but quickly became a smile.  
"Ms. Kasai, I see you've met my gardener, Kurama." She said kindly, moving to stand next to the silver fox demon.  
Kurama gave her a triumphant smile that made her blood boil but she kept her composure.  
"You mean you have a demon working for you? What would your neighbors think?" She asked.  
Mrs. Collins laughed lightly.  
"It doesn't matter as long as he's handsome! Look at him! If I wasn't married, I'd be all over him!" She exclaimed, looking up at him dreamily.  
Rirī tried not to gag.  
"I see." She said indifferently.  
Her mind was racing.  
"Kurama, you must join Eric and me on the porch. We were just saying how lovely your roses were. Oh, show Ms. Kasai your plant magic!" Mrs. Collins said excitedly.  
The demon smiled and pulled a seed from his hair, growing a rose in the palm of his hand, causing Mrs. Collins to squeal in excitement.  
Rirī, having seen this magic on a more violent scale, glared cautiously at the rose in the demon's pale hand.  
"Isn't it wonderful? Kurama could romance any girl in the world." Mrs. Collins sighed.  
Rirī nodded absent mindedly. Obviously, there was a romance between the two, and Mr. Collins was oblivious to everything. Even the fact that Kurama is the bandit who nearly killed him.  
She went to glare at the arrogant fox demon when she saw his gold eyes staring back at her, almost miserably.  
_'It's a trick. He knows your weakness is helping those in need.'_ She thought.  
"So Kurama, will you join us?" Mrs. Collins asked again.  
"No, I think I'll enjoy a walk with Ms. Kasai." He said.  
Mrs. Collins gave a sour look and glared at Rirī before smiling sweetly to Kurama.  
"Very well. Try not to have too much fun." She said, winking, and with a swish of her skirts she was gone.  
"What a disgusting woman." Kurama growled.  
Rirī looked up at him skeptically.  
"If you don't try to kill her husband in hopes of stealing his wife, then why did you do it?" She asked.  
"She offered me money, enough to get out of here and continue my life in peace. Maybe settle down, have kits, that sort of thing. You stole my happiness from me Kasai." He said.  
"I do not regret saving a life that would have been wrongly taken." She said firmly.  
He laughed at her.  
"Wrongly taken? Who do you think you are? God? No, you are nothing but a foolish woman with the knowledge to fight." He mocked.  
"And you are a man who abuses his skills and thinks like a petty woman. I can play a game of wits easy enough." Rirī said indifferently.  
"Don't you value your own life? If I had wanted to, I could have killed you that night, Ms. Kasai." He said, his tone soft.  
Rirī looked up at him with confused eyes then towards the setting sun, her expression sad.  
"My life never held value to anyone, so I never valued it. Besides, everyone I save proves to be important. I couldn't bear for them to die." She said.  
Kurama looked at her a moment then to the rose in his hand, which now withered away and turned to dust in his hand.  
"You are a strange human." He said, his voice sincere.  
"You are a strange demon. I wouldn't in a million years think you would work for this Collins woman as a gardener or a hired murderer. I expected more from this 'Legendary Kurama.'" She said.  
She turned and began to leave when his voice stopped her.  
"Youko."  
She turned and looked at him with questioning eyes.  
"My true name is Youko. I would like you to call me by it." He said.  
Rirī gave him a small, but kind smile.  
"Then I will ask you to call me by my true name. I am Rirī." She said.  
She left then; behind her she could hear Youko's laugh of amusement.  
"A fierce fighter who goes by the name Fire and her true name is Lilly." He said.  
She smiled at his comment, also enjoying the irony, and continued back to the porch.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun began to set and Rirī was glad. Soon she would have an excuse to leave the boring tea party on the porch.  
Mr. and Mrs. Collins were talking to each other fondly and hardly acknowledged.  
But she didn't mind, not really knowing what to say about their conversations anyway. Instead she watched Youko cautiously being sure the demon didn't act surreptitious.  
He wasn't though.  
He walked lazily through the rose hedges and used his strange magic to make even the sick blossoms bloom. He would look up at Rirī and give her an unreadable expression then look at the sky.  
The setting sun splashed orange and purple across the clouds and made everything glow.  
Youko's silver hair, ears, and tail were dulled in comparison. But his golden eyes, visible to Rirī even from that distance, were dazzling, even more so than the sun itself.  
Lombard walked out and bowed before Mr. Collins, who was very drunk.  
"Sir, the guests have arrived." He said lowly to his master.  
Mrs. Collins leapt up and clapped her hands in jubilation.  
"How wonderful! Let's go Eric; I can't wait to show off our little hero!" She squealed.  
"Guests?" Rirī asked.  
Both Collins looked at Rirī, confused.  
"We are holding a diner party in your honor, Ms. Kasai. I thought Sophie told you." Mr. Collins said, glancing at his wife.  
"Oh, Eric, don't be ridiculous! I told you to tell her." Mrs. Collins said, standing up and dusting herself off.  
Mr. Collins rolled his eyes then glared out at the garden.  
"That demon slave confuses me. He tells me he hates my guts but he gives me such a wonderful garden." He said nonchalantly.  
"You mean Kurama?" Rirī asked.  
"That brute has a name?" He asked.  
Biting her tongue, literally, Rirī came to an understanding.  
Youko wasn't killing for money; he was killing for his freedom.  
The memories of slavery came back to her and she nearly gaged at them. How she hates slavery.  
Rirī decided then that not only was she going to help Nevaeh and Mr. Collins, now she has to free Youko, or she will never forgive herself  
Mr. Collins stood and stretched , giving a manly yawn and turned back to the dining room.  
"We have guests waiting. Kasai, fix your hair will you? Just because you're from the East doesn't mean you need to look like an idiot." He said.  
Again Rirī bit into her tongue, trying to remind herself that the man before her was extremely intoxicated.  
She nodded and moved her ponytail over her shoulder and began to comb out any tangles with her fingers. That was when he stumbled forward and grabbed a fist full of her hair.  
Rirī didn't cry out or strike him. Instead she glared at him.  
"Mr. Collins, I ask that you release me at once." She growled.  
He breathed into her face in audible words.  
There was an awful scent on his breath accompanying the alcohol. It was some sort of drug.  
'_Mrs. Collins must have slipped some sort of drug in his wine. Not only is he intoxicated, he's completely mad._' She thought.  
He continued to yank at her hair, mumbling profanities about Eastern women and his wife. Rirī knew after a few minutes he'd be dead.  
_'There must be something…_' She thought in a panic.  
The water fountain in the center of the garden would help. Water would wash the poison out of his body if he drank enough of it.  
She pulled him towards the fountain but he yanked her back hard.  
Rirī clenched her teeth in pain and thought about kicking him in the stomach to stun him but she saw the crowed that began to gather at the window of the dining room, looking out at her.  
No, a violent reaction is what Mrs. Collins wants.  
She took her captor's hands in her own and gently pulled him to the fountain, cooing words of encouragement as they passed from the view of the house. Finally they reached it and she let him go, thus he let her go, and she knelt in front of the fountain to cup water out with her hands when she heard a large splash and water splash in her face. Mr. Collins had jumped in the fountain water and was swimming around madly.  
"At least drink the water!" Rirī yelled, losing her patience.  
Glaring at her, he lunged at her and pulled her into the water, pinning her body to the bottom.  
She didn't panic, not even as he sat on her chest and knocked the air from her body, water flooding into her lungs.  
She tried to focus on moving him off of her but he sat on her like a child would to a younger sibling in a fight.  
Her vision started to darken and she felt herself finally give up.  
She was going to die here, in a water fountain.  
How absurd.  
And killed by the man she tried so hard to protect.  
After what seemed like eternity, the weight on her body was taken away and she was lifted out of the water.  
Rirī felt the air outside her mouth and nose and went to breathe it in but coughed up water instead.  
She was laid on her side gently and she curled into a ball, caught in a terrible coughing fit.  
A gentle hand was between her shoulder blades, what it was doing she was numb to. Finally the water in her ears drained away and she could hear shouts from the house. A voice cooed her name to her, trying to get a response from her.  
"Rirī? Rirī are you alright?"  
Air finally reached her lungs and she gasped, so suddenly she began to cough again.  
"Take it easy, don't take such quick breaths in, you'll choke."  
She listened to the voice's breathing, calm and steady, and she tried to match her own to it.  
Oxygen made her head stop throbbing and she could think clearly.  
"There you go. Now, how do you feel? Your head isn't hurting is it?"  
That voice.  
She opened her eyes and saw Youko behind her, his hand rubbing between her shoulder blades, his gold eyes kind and worried.  
"Youko?" She wheezed, and then coughed as the vibration of her voice irritated her sore throat.  
"Yes Rirī, it's me. Try not to talk. I'll take you to your room and have Nevaeh care for you, alright?" He whispered as the shouts grew closer.  
Rirī nodded, closing her eyes as the motion made her terribly dizzy.  
She was lifted up and cradled gently in Youko's arms.  
Mrs. Collins ran up first, angry as a hornet.  
"Kurama, why did you save them? Didn't I tell you I needed to frame her for his death?" she hissed quietly.  
Rirī kept her eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness, and listened to the woman intently.  
"You never said she would die as well." Youko's voice said indifferently.  
Mrs. Collins growled.  
"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have let you talk with her! Now you like her more than me!" She whined.  
"That's not likely."  
"One way or another, Kasai will have to die for you to get your freedom and out plan to work. Get used to the idea Kurama."  
"Mrs. Collins! Why did your husband run off with that Eastern woman? Is she a hired whore?" A random voice called as the guests came closer. However, the voices and questions faded as Youko carried Rirī away to her room.  
Nevaeh was waiting anxiously, and was relieved when she saw Rirī alive.  
"Thank goodness! I was certain the Mistress would end up killing her." Nevaeh said.  
Rirī opened her eyes and Nevaeh gasped.  
"Awake and alive? Kurama, this one is amazing. She might be able to-"  
"No."  
Both girls looked up at him and saw his eyes were closed, brow furrowed in emotion.  
"I understand. Come; sit her down on the char over there." Nevaeh said, leading Youko into Rirī's room. He sat her down on the chair next to her bed, her wet clothing cold as it pressed against her skin.  
"I'll take it from here." Nevaeh said, putting a hand on Rirī's shoulder.  
Youko knelt in front of Rirī and tried to get her to meet his eyes but she stared into the hands on her lap, shaking from the cold or from fear, he didn't know.  
Sighing, he stood.  
"Alright." He said, and then he left.


	9. Chapter 9

Nevaeh had helped Rirī bathe and dress into a fresh nightgown, and then tucked her into bed.  
Rirī remained silent a long while, until Nevaeh began to leave.  
"You knew?" She asked hoarsely.  
The brunette paused then turned slowly and met Rirī's eyes with shame.  
"Aye, I did. But too late to have warned you." She said.  
"Kurama knew as well." Rirī stated.  
"That poor demon, he knew the whole time. He and Milady have a contract." Nevaeh said.  
Rirī raised her eyebrows in curiosity.  
"Contract?" She asked.  
"Yes. I don't know the whole back story or anything, but I know he is her slave until she releases him. She gave him to the Master, who enjoys tormenting him." Nevaeh said.  
"Tormenting him?" Rirī asked, sounding concerned.  
"The Master will torture Kurama and taunt him with a promise of permanent enslavement. Kurama can't defend himself against those beatings. Good thing demons are fast healers; else he would have been killed long ago."  
Rirī felt something in her break.  
_"You took my happiness from me, Ms. Kasai."_ She recalled him say.  
_"Who do you think you are? God? You're just a foolish woman with the skills to fight."_  
Rirī held back a sob.  
"Ms. Kasai? Are you alright?" Nevaeh asked.  
"Yeas, I'm alright. I think I'll go to sleep now." Rirī replied kindly.  
The girl nodded.  
"Alright miss happy dreams." She said, turning out the light and closing the door.  
Rirī rolled onto her side and curled into a ball, hating herself.  
For the first time in her life, she was wrong.  
Tears fell unbidden down her cheeks.  
The French doors on the far side of the room that led to the garden opened and the cool night air blew in.  
Rirī sat up and saw Youko standing cautiously in the doorway.  
"Youko." She said his name like an apology, feeling horrible all over again, but keeping her tears at bay.  
He shut the doors behind him and sat in the chair next to her bed.  
"Rirī, I'm sorry I didn't warn you." He said.  
"I'm sorry I took your happiness." She replied miserably.  
"What do you mean?" He asked, his voice hard.  
"I made it impossible for you to get your freedom." She said simply.  
"It's alright. I'll find another way." He said.  
Rirī hugged her knees to her chest.  
"Why did you save us?" She asked, her voice quiet and sad.  
Youko didn't answer her at first, and there was a long silence.  
The sound of the fountain's water could be heard, as well as crickets and night owls.  
"I didn't want you to die." He said simply.  
"I'm not afraid to die, and why should you care? You owe me nothing." She said.  
"You said no one valued your life therefore you didn't either. I want you to value your life Rirī. I want you to live." He said.  
"But why?" Rirī asked quietly.  
"I don't want my freedom to be gained because you had to die. It was by chance you found him in the woods that day. If we had met any other way, I am sure we wouldn't be enemies. Besides, you have a kind heart. You don't deserve to die for my freedom." He said.  
"Enough." Rirī said harshly, her voice cracking and she coughed a bit.  
Youko gave her an unreadable expression and she glared at him.  
"I was a slave once too. And I vow on my life that no matter the cost, I will get you your freedom. My 'heart' and our friends or nemesis status has nothing to do with this." She said.  
His eyes went angry all of a sudden  
"You were a slave?" He demanded.  
She nodded.  
"Yes, I was."  
"What happened?"  
She looked down at her arms and shuddered.  
"I was fourteen. My father had died that summer and in the fall our village was raided. I was told I was pretty and they kept me as a slave. Brothel women didn't do half the things I was forced to do. When I turned sixteen, an old warrior came by my master's house and saw what he did to me, because he always showed his guests his 'pretty little whore'. The man killed my master and trained me to fight, giving me the name Kasai. Now that I am twenty-one, I decided to wander the country and save others from the fate befell me as an adolescent." She said.  
She looked to Youko, whose jaw was set hard, his mouth in a snarl.  
"Humans are so vile. They do such demented things, and for their own pleasure!" He growled.  
Rirī tried to rub the warmth back into her arms and shivered.  
"I'm sorry." She said, feeling guilty for being human, and in turn, making her feel silly for feeling that way.  
Youko was suddenly next to her on the bed, hugging her tight.  
"No, I'm sorry. I was insensitive just now. Forgive me." He said.  
"It's alright. I would also say such things, were I in your place." Rirī whispered.  
Suddenly the door to her room opened and Mrs. Collins walked in.  
"Ms. Kasai, I have some teat to soothe your throat-"  
She stopped when she saw Youko, his arms still around Rirī.  
"Kurama, you naughty boy, the poor girl needs rest." Mrs. Collins said, laughing dryly.  
"My apologies my lady." He said, his arrogant tone returned.  
"Not meaning to be selfish, Kasai, but he's mine."  
Rirī nodded, realizing she and Youko's enslavement are not much different.  
"Of course, Mrs. Collins. I have no intention of stealing him from you." She said in reply, adding her own hoarse laugh.  
Here they were, three people, all lying to each other and laughing about it.  
"Here is your tea, Ms. Kasai. Kurama, be sure she drinks all of it." Mrs. Collins said, putting the mug in Rirī's hands and emphasizing her last words.  
She smiled and left, closing the door behind her.  
Rirī looked at the steaming cup in her hands, already smelling the poison.  
'She's a horrible murderer. She must think I'm a fool.' She thought.  
She brought the cup to her lips.  
"What are you doing?" Youko demanded, grabbing her wrist roughly.  
"Drinking my tea; I don't-"But Youko cut her off by snatching the cup away, swallowing its contents in one gulp.  
"Why did you do that? It was poisoned!" Rirī exclaimed quietly.  
"Demons can't be poisoned. Now, what were you thinking trying to drink it, well aware it was poisoned?" He demanded.  
She glared at him for interrupting her and he cursed when she made no reply.  
"You are a foolish woman. Your death would not get me my freedom. She would still own me until I killed her husband." He said.  
"I know that. I was trying to tell you that I am immune to that poison." She said, sounding irritated.  
"Oh," Youko said quietly. "I'll go get you some more tea if you'd like."  
Rirī shook her head.  
"Thank you, but no. I'll be alright until tomorrow morning." She said kindly.  
Youko nodded.  
"Very well then. I should let you sleep now. I will see you tomorrow." He said, standing and leaving. He reached the French doors when her small, tired voice made him pause.  
"Thank you, Youko."  
He gave her a small, kind smile.  
"You're welcome."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers! I am proud to say that I stayed up all night last night to finish writing the first 30 chapters and filling up my first notebook. My hands hurt, I'm super tired, and have an outing scheduled for later today, but I've never been so happy! 3  
I'm sorry some of the chapters are so short, they look **_**a lot**_** longer in my notebook and I would run some together, but then they wouldn't match up in the notebook and online, and that will drive me crazy. Does that make sense? O well, no one said I had to make sense.  
Well, here is what you came to read, Chapter Ten!**

Mrs. Collins was waiting for Youko by the water fountain, arms folded over her chest irritably, glaring at him as he arrived.  
"Did she drink it?" She demanded.  
"She's immune to that particular poison, my lady." He informed her.  
"Of course she is." She growled. "That girl is nothing but a thorn in my side. It's as if the fates are against me, the way she shows up out of nowhere and ruins everything."  
"Why not just let me kill Lord Eric. Ms. Kasai really doesn't need to be involved." Youko said.  
"She involved herself. She knows too much, that woman; I can see it when she looks at me. Nevaeh betrayed me, but I found a way to use that to my advantage. Now she gives Kasai false information and now the two are friends. Have you befriended her?" She asked.  
"No, she still hates me for stabbing her when we first met." He replied.  
"It didn't seem that way when I walked in on you." Mrs. Collins said dryly.  
"Naturally I was putting forth some kind of effort. You forget, I don't give up easily." He replied.  
The click of heels came towards them and Nevaeh came into sight.  
"Sorry I took so long. The last few guests were determined to interrogate me about our 'hero.'" She said, her voice and composure completely different now they were away from prying eyes.  
"It's no trouble. I was just finishing talking to Kurama to make sure he was still loyal." Mrs. Collins said.  
"O yes, don't want a traitor. But I could care less about that. What are we going to do with that roach of a husband of yours?" Nevaeh asked.  
"I think an outing would do." Mrs. Collins said.  
"An outing?" Youko said doubtfully.  
"Yes, a picnic in the woods will be the perfect place to set up a murder scene don't you think?" Mrs. Collins said, chuckling to herself.  
"Kurama and I will go with you as well right?" Nevaeh asked hopefully.  
"I don't have any interest in participating in your petty murder games. I'll retire to my room now." He said, turning to leave.  
"Teishi!" Mrs. Collins hissed.  
Suddenly, Youko's muscles locked in place and he froze, unable to move, aside from clench his teeth in pain.  
"Now, Kurama, you know I hate using my magic, it makes things less entertaining, and I hate seeing that look of pain in your eyes, but I didn't dismiss you yet." She cooed, standing in front of him and stroked his hair.  
"Let me go wench." Youko growled through clenched teeth.  
The sound of bamboo shoes on stone sounded from near the house and Youko saw Rirī watching quietly from the French doors of her room, open to the garden council.  
Mrs. Collins followed his gaze and spotted the swordswoman.  
"That bitch, always ruining my fun." She growled.  
She snapped her fingers and Youko's muscles were unbound from the magic and he fell to his knees.  
"You will go with us Kurama. We leave tomorrow so be certain you're prepared." She said, talking through teeth clenched in anger.  
Nevaeh clung to her mistress' arm as the two left for the house.  
Youko didn't notice Rirī run up to him and was startled when she knelt beside him.  
"Youko, are you alright? There was black magic around you." She said worriedly.  
"I'm alright Rirī, thank you." He said.  
She glanced down at his pale arms, which were beginning to turn black with bruises.  
"You're not alright. Look at these bruises." She said, her voice hard.  
"I'm fine Rirī, I'm used to it." He said roughly, looking towards the house and glared at where Mrs. Collins had disappeared.  
"There is a spell on you, one that puts you under her complete control." Rirī stated.  
Youko looked to her, her eyes bright in the moonlight, shining with kindness and concern.  
"Yes, there is a spell on me." He said.  
"How did it happen?"  
He laughed, a pained laugh, and Rirī thought he wasn't going to answer her but then he spoke.  
"I was a bandit and as I said before, I'm attracted to wealth. She caught me thieving in her house and as punishment she put the spell on me, forcing me to be her slave. At first, I didn't take her seriously, so I tried to escape but she stopped me with one word, and my body froze. She told me the only way for me to be free is if she lets me go, or she's killed. Naturally, I tried to kill her, but the spell prevents me from harming her in anyway. I've been trapped ever since."  
"She's a witch." Rirī observed.  
"Yes." He said.  
"Why doesn't she use her magic to get what she wants instead of all this sloppy plotting?" She asked.  
"She enjoys seeing if she can get her way without using her magic. She tried her magic on you, but it didn't work for some reason. She has no choice but to do these schemes, or she'll risk losing to you." He said.  
"I've dealt with witches before. I can free you." Rirī said.  
"No!" He yelled.  
She frowned.  
"And why not, do you like being a slave?" She demanded.  
A growl answered her.  
"Then what's the problem?" She asked.  
"You'll-"He sighed and look up at the moon, which brought the silver of his hair and ears to life.  
"It doesn't matter." He said.  
Rirī huffed in defeat and nodded.  
"Very well."


	11. Chapter 11

Rirī woke to Mrs. Collins' loud voice in the garden.  
She sat up in bed and saw the sun had just finished rising and Nevaeh had opened the French door, a warm breeze blowing through the room.  
The brunette came in with a kind smile.  
"Good morning Ms. Kasai. You better get ready to go; the mistress has planned a splendid outing today." She said, rolling her eyes, her voice sarcastic.  
"Sounds pleasant." Rirī said flatly.  
She slid out of bed and went to the dresser, where Nevaeh had placed a new kimono, a midnight blue one.  
After dressing, she fumbled with her messy hair and managed to get it into a pony tail.  
Nevaeh gave her a satin blue ribbon for her hair.  
"Thought it would look nice on you miss." She said, and then left.  
Rirī waited a moment after Nevaeh left before going to her bed and pulling the maid's knife out from under her pillow.  
After seeing her with Mrs. Collins last night, she had her doubts about trusting the maid.  
She slipped the knife into her kimono sleeve.  
"Mrs. Collins asks that you hurry, Ms. Kasai. They are ready to depart." Lottie said, poking her head into the room.  
"I'm ready. Could you escort me? I'm afraid I haven't a clue as to where I am to go." Rirī replied.  
"Of course miss." Lottie said with a bow. She led Rirī down the hall and past the dining room to a huge foyer. At the end were twin wooden doors, painted white. Lottie opened the doors and outside was a magnificent front garden. A cobblestone driveway made a circle around a hug water fountain. Directly in front of the stairs of the front the house, a horse drawn carriage was presented, Mr. and Mrs. Collins already seated inside. Rirī noticed there was no room for her in the carriage.  
"Ms. Kasai, we have a horse ready for you!" Mrs. Collins called, waving from the window.  
Rirī nodded and saw the horse they had referred to was the one behind the carriage, next to Youko.  
He smiled at her as she walked, being led by Lottie.  
"Ah, Kurama, I'm glad you'll be accompanying the Mistress. Who knows what could happen out there." The blonde maid said.  
Youko glared at her and she casually walked back to the house.  
"Alright! Let's move!" Mr. Collins called.  
The carriage began to move and Rirī mounted the black horse she was given to ride.  
Youko walked casually beside her, being a demon, he could walk faster than a horse.  
"Where are we going?" Rirī asked.  
"A picnic in the woods." He said, his voice hard.  
Rirī was suddenly glad she had taken Nevaeh's knife.  
"It's a trap?" She whispered.  
"Yes, though she won't give me any details. She just said it would be lovely." He said, saying the word Lovely like it was poison.  
Rirī narrowed her eyes.  
"So this is the finale?" She asked herself.  
"I don't know. I think-"  
He stopped, his eyes wide for a moment as he looked to the carriage in front of them and he clenched his teeth.  
"He's dead." He growled lowly.  
Rirī clutched the reins in her hands tightly, tears welling in her eyes.  
"D-damn." She choked.  
Youko's hand rested over her's for a moment.  
"Don't lose yourself. You can't know this has happened. She wants to take you by surprise." He said  
He looked at her, his eyes pleading.  
"Don't cry Rirī. Stay calm." He cooed.  
"Who is driving the carriage?" She asked, distracting herself.  
"Nevaeh."  
"Alright, that makes sense." She said.  
"Sophie has your sword. If you can, try to get it from her." He said.  
"No, that won't work. I will just hope she doesn't know how to use it." She said.  
Youko glared at her.  
"That's a foolish plan." He said.  
He looked up and saw her calm expression.  
"You have a plan." He said accusingly.  
"Yes."  
"You mean not to tell me?" He asked.  
"No, I don't want the possibility of you betraying me to be present." She said.  
He sighed.  
"Fair enough." He decided.  
Soon they were deep in the woods, away from any civilization or village. Rirī took note of her surrounding and thought of a strategy while Youko kept quiet, his eyes hard and calculating.  
_'This woman is no fool. Sophie is going to have a Hell of a time trying to kill her.'_ He thought.  
They came to a clearing with a waterfall falling into a small pond. This is where the carriage stopped.  
Nevaeh hopped down from the driver's seat and opened the carriage door. Mr. Collins' body fell out at her feet, his throat slashed and a gash in his chest, his eyes wide open in horror and betrayal.  
Nevaeh screamed, jumping back.  
"I guess we're not hiding it anymore." Youko mumbled sarcastically.  
"Nevaeh, I'm on the other side!" Mrs. Collins yelled.  
Nevaeh nodded fearfully and ran to the other side and opened the door.  
Mrs. Collins stepped out, her eyes wild, blood stained her yellow sun dress and hat, splattered on her face.  
Gripped tightly in her hands was Rirī's sword.


	12. Chapter 12

"Mrs. Collins, what have you done?" Rirī demanded, horrified.  
A crazed cackle escaped the woman before them.  
"I did nothing, bitch, this was all you!" She laughed.  
Rirī dismounted her horse and met Mrs. Collins gaze evenly.  
"Mrs. Collins-"  
"I know what you'll say Kasai!"  
Rirī stepped back in hesitation, eyes wide in shock.  
"You would say that I am mad, not thinking clearly, but my mind is as sharp as ever! It was your sword that killed my husband and you who will be known as his murderer. This is all you're doing." Mrs. Collins laughed.  
Nevaeh stared at her mistress, her eyes wide. She never knew her mistress was so insane.  
"So, what are you waiting for Kasai? Aren't you going to attack me?" Mrs. Collins asked, her right eye twitching.  
Rirī stood straight, her face and an indifferent voice.  
"No." She said.  
"What do you mean 'no'?" Nevaeh asked, sounding horrified.  
Youko smirked.  
_'So she knows._' He thought.  
"I am not a fool, Mrs. Collins. I am aware that you are practicing in dark magic. It would be foolish for me to attack you unarmed." Rirī said.  
"I am not a fool either, Kasai. I know that you wouldn't accompany me here into the middle of nowhere unarmed." Mrs. Collins smirked.  
Rirī chuckled lightly, pulling the knife from her kimono sleeve and holding it out for all to see.  
"So it seems I've been found out." She said, sounding amused.  
"Hey, that's my knife!" Nevaeh exclaimed in shock.  
"Yes. After your 'confession', I hid it under my pillow. Why you never found it confuses me still." Rirī replied. She looked to Mrs. Collins with narrowed eyes. "So how will this work _Sophie_? This won't be a believable murder for me to have committed. If I'm alive, I can prove my innocence easily. If you kill me, you'll be the first one they'll frame, because you'll be covered in both my blood and his. Dead or alive, I'm a bit of a mess in your plan."  
Mrs. Collins laughed.  
"Easy. The story will go like this: You attacked us in our carriage, killing my husband brutally, and my brave demon slave saved my life, losing his own life in the process." She said.  
"What!?" Rirī and Youko exclaimed.  
"I knew that the only reason he was so kind to me was because he lusted for his freedom. His loyalty to me would vanish once he learned I never meant to grant him his freedom. So I'm killing him off to save myself the trouble." Mrs. Collins chuckled.  
"You lying bitch." Youko growled.  
She looked at him as if he were a bug.  
"Shinu." She spat.  
Youko's eyes rolled back and he collapsed suddenly, his body as still as death.  
"Kurama!" Nevaeh cried. She ran to her mistress. "Please Sophie; I beg you, let him go! Let him live!"  
The murderess flung the girl away and into a tree, knocking her out. She smirked at Rirī's malevolent expression.  
"He's not dead, if that's what you're so upset about. But I did paralyze his lungs. He'll have two minutes, that's about it." She said.  
"I don't care, then, if I will be framed for this. But I will kill you, you sick fiend." Rirī said coldly.  
Mrs. Collins smirked then flung a knife at Rirī, who dodged easily. Rirī ran forward with an angry shout, stabbing the vile woman in the heart with Nevaeh's knife, in the process breaking her arm as Mrs. Collins stabbed through it with her sword. Sophie made a gurgling whine and died, falling forward onto Rirī, who lowered her gently to the ground. She took back her sword and put her right hand over the wound on her arm to stop the bleeding.  
A flutter in the trees took her by surprise. She looked up to see a bat demon, clad in black, perched gracefully in a tree. He glared down at her after taking in the scene.  
"So you're a lowly thief who kills for fun?" He asked, his voice a growl.  
"Hardly, I kill to protect the innocent. I am a wanderer, Kasai is my name. I am not a thief." Rirī replied, standing and meeting his gaze with a hard look. She slipped her sword through her obi and went to Youko. She knelt next to him, reaching out to check his pulse when a flash caught her attention. The bat demon had thrown an attack with his scythe.  
"Why do you attack me?" She asked, deflecting the strike with her sword, standing quickly, but wincing at the pain in her arm. The demon noticed this and smirked.  
"Your arm is broken is broken isn't it?" He asked tauntingly.  
"Answer my question first." Rirī said roughly.  
She noticed Youko was breathing and sighed in relief, the bat also seeming to be relieved as well.  
"You better be relieved he's alive, bitch. I would have killed you slower if he had died." He said.  
"I was protecting him from that woman. This demon is my friend." Rirī said.  
"Nice try, wench. He and I have been friends for centuries and he never spoke of a human wanderer. And he'd never need protection from a human woman. He could kill people like you in his sleep!" He said.  
"Listen, I don't have time to argue with you. Youko needs medical attention and I refuse to let him go unattended a second longer." She said, moving back to Youko, but was slammed against a tree; held in place by her throat in the bat demon's hand.  
"How do you know his true name wench? He only ever told it to me." He growled.  
Rirī coughed and tried to get him off of her but it was in vain.  
"Can't you interrogation wait?" She asked.  
He growled, flexing his hand around her throat and she gasped in pain, and then chocked.  
"Answer me bitch." He demanded.  
"Kuronue let her go."  
Both looked behind the bat demon at Youko, who was trying to stand.  
"But she tried to kill you." Kuronue insisted.  
"Let her go, Kuronue. She's my friend." Youko said sternly.  
The bat demon dropped Rirī abruptly, and the girl bit her lip hard as she bumped her broken arm against the ground. She stood carefully and went to aid Youko.  
"Here, let me help you." She said, offering him her good arm. He took the offer and soon he was on his feet. Kuronue growled at her from his perch in the tree above them.  
"Shut up bat." Rirī growled back.  
She went to Nevaeh's unconscious form and nudged her awake. The girl's eyes opened and she gasped at seeing Rirī.  
"Ms. Kasai, I'm so sorry. I didn't know things would get this out of hand." She sobbed.  
"It's alright Nevaeh. I must ask you to do something for me though. I need my things back and I'm certain you know where they are. Can you get them back to me?" Rirī asked.  
Nevaeh nodded.  
"Of course Kasai, anything." She said.  
The maid went to the horse Rirī had ridden before and rode off.  
"Getting reinforcements?" Kuronue asked, his tone suspicious.  
"No, my belonging. I am leaving this area before I'm made an outlaw." Rirī replied.  
"Where will you go?" Youko asked.  
"Anywhere but here." She said.  
"Good, I was hoping you'd leave." Kuronue said.  
"Kuronue…" Youko growled in warning.  
Rirī went to say something to the bat demon when she suddenly felt lightheaded. Her wounded arm had been bleeding, making her lose a lot of blood, and the pain became unbearable. She fell to her knees, clutching her arm, a whimper of pain escaping her lips, tears in her eyes.  
She heard Youko say something and rush over to her.  
Her world swam for a moment, swirling until finally, she collapsed.  
-End Part One


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well we finished Part One of ****Rirī Kasai and now we start Part Two! I am almost sad I didn't make the mystery of Mrs. Collins and her murders last longer than a few chapters but I think you all will forgive me. After all, there is still much to come and I can hardly contain my excitement. Thank you to all of you who favorite and review. I was out with my friend today and I got 3 reviews at once and couldn't stop jumping up and down and screaming. They looked at my funny for a while and couldn't understand why I was so happy and accused me of getting a boyfriend without telling them. (Forever alone)  
I also bought my prom dress today! (^o^) Super excited! Needless to say, I am having the best day ever.  
But **_**anyway**_**, here is chapter 13 my lovelies!**

Rirī woke a few seconds later, or, at least it felt that way to her. Opening her eyes, she found she was in an inn room, lying in a bed. Her arm was bandaged and set. She sat up and looked around.  
Across the room was an empty fireplace, beside her a wooden chair. In the chair were her old clothes and her sword. On top them was a folded piece of paper. She reached for it and opened it, revealing it to be a letter from Youko.

_Rirī,  
Thank you for freeing me. I'm sorry I had to leave before you woke up, but important business came up. I paid for your room and for a woman to care for you. Stay as long as you need. I left a purse under your bed. It should pay for 5 more days after the summer solstice.  
I also apologize for Kuronue attacking you. He really isn't all that bad.  
Because I know you are curious, I will tell you my 'important business'.  
I am the leader of a band of bandits, which you saw when we first met. The kings of Demon World are looking for me and my men; we haven't been on the best of terms with our land's monarchs. A large percent of my men have been taken hostage. Because of this, Kuronue has spent the last few years looking for me. I have a priority to my men. Though I have yet to properly thank you for saving my life.  
I promise, I will catch up with you again someday and journey with you on your wanderings.  
Until then, try to stay out of trouble.  
Youko_

Rirī folded the paper back up and got out of bed and dressed, which was a bit difficult with her broken left arm. After a hassle, she was dressed in her normal traveling clothes, which were those of a man's. She tied her obi best she could and slid her sword in place. She grabbed the purse and then left the room.  
Outside, the sun was bright and nearly blinded Rirī.  
Looking around, she saw she was on a highway, and not a very busy one.  
The heat was almost sickening and the dust from the road dried out her mouth instantly. A cart and horse went by and Rirī tried not to cough. She looked about, trying to decide on which way to go.  
"Excuse me, miss, are you leaving already? You're booked here for two more days." Said a young woman who walked over to Rirī.  
"I have no need to stay any longer. You can give my room to someone else if you'd like. I need to be going. Where does this road lead?" Rirī asked, pointing to the left.  
"Tokyo is that way Miss. Lovely town, have you ever been there?" The woman asked.  
Rirī shook her head.  
"Do you know how to get to Tataraba from here?" She asked.  
The woman pointed to the right.  
"That's the right direction, I think. Be faster to go through the woods though. Go straight through and you'll end up right at their rice fields." She replied.  
Rirī nodded.  
"Alright, thank you." She said, going straight ahead to the woods.  
"Wait miss!"  
Rirī turned and looked back at the woman.  
"You shouldn't travel through the woods in your condition. There are bandits everywhere." The woman said.  
Rirī smiled.  
"I know." She said, and turned back around and went into the woods, leaving the girl behind her confused.


	14. Chapter 14

The woods were dark, save the sunlight shining through the breaks in the canopy, though it would fade due to the gathering clouds, darkening to storm clouds.  
Rirī shivered as a cold wind blew at her from the mountains ahead. The world was becoming cold and dark the longer she walked.  
The wood was quiet, save the soft murmur of animal life.  
It was close to late afternoon when the sound of footfall reached Rirī's ears.  
She stopped, listening, and quickly drew her sword, blocking the strike of a demon bandit.  
"Give us your money woman, or we'll have to kill you." He hissed, striking again.  
Rirī blocked and maneuvered away.  
"I have no money gentlemen. Would you please let me pass? I don't want to hurt such amateurs." She said, noting their poor stances. Five men in total had her surrounded, including her opponent.  
"Amateurs? Do you not know who we are wench? We serve under the great Yomi!" Their leader yelled.  
Rirī raised an eyebrow.  
"Yomi? Who is he? Is he supposed to be important?" She asked.  
Their leader had a snarl-like expression on his face.  
"Don't you know anything woman?" He yelled.  
"I know how to fight." She said in a tone that told them that they did know the first thing about a fight.  
He glared at her and moved to strike her.  
"Damn bitch, you may as well die ignorant as well." He said.  
They came at her all at once. Rirī dodged, ducking as a few of their blades crashed together over her head. She rolled out of the way, mindful of her arm, and leapt to her feet, blocking a few knives that were thrown at her. Again they attacked, Rirī blocking their blows easily despite her broken arm. A wolf growl sounded behind her and the men stopped.  
"Did you hear that?" One of them whispered.  
The growl sounded off again the men bolted, screaming about wolf gods.  
"What cowards." A rough voice remarked.  
Rirī turned and smiled. A woman with brown braided hair and deep blue eyes sat upon a white wolf god.  
"Mother Ana!" Rirī greeted happily to her adopted mother.  
"Rirī, what are you doing here? I thought your father sent you to wander." Ana said, not seeming to happy to see her adopted daughter.  
"I wanted to visit you both, being I was in the area and my arm is broken. I figured I could help out in Tataraba." Rirī said.  
"Sounds fine, come on, I'll take you to Sasuke. He doesn't need bad news but this is better than what he's dealt with lately." Ana said.  
After a day of walking, the two reached Tataraba. The town was bigger than it was during the time when the large animal spirits roamed the earth. Ana and her wolf god brothers guarded the town from invaders and other town lords.  
"I could use some help, if you're interested. Patrol is difficult by ourselves." Ana said.  
Rirī decided to take up the offer. Soon they passed through the gate and were greeted by a few of the town's women. A couple were arguing but stopped long enough to give her a glare of disapproval. But Rirī didn't mind. Despite the fact that most of the folks here despised her for being a wanderer, she felt she could be herself here and not behind her emotionless mask she wore everywhere else. This was the closest thing she had to a home.  
"Have you seen Sasuke?" Ana demanded, her tone more demanding than polite. But that was Ana for you.  
"He's talking with Mazaki. What about, I have no idea." One woman said.  
Ana nodded and grabbed Rirī's hand.  
"Let's go." She said.


	15. Chapter 15

Sasuke left Mazaki's house, his face a mask of concern and puzzlement. He didn't notice Ana and Rirī as he walked back towards his own home. Ana became irritated that he ignored her and she growled.  
"Sasuke, come back to the world of the living, will you?" She said.  
He stopped and turned abruptly.  
"Sorry Ana, things are just-"he paused when he saw Rirī, who ducked her head in shame.  
"Sorry Father, I know I was not to come back." She said.  
"It's alright Kasai. It's good to see you again." He said with a slight smile, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
"Come, you both must be hungry. I believe the ox drivers brought back more rice today. Let's go get our portion." He said.  
Ana scrunched up her face in disgust.  
"Rice is gross. I don't understand how you humans can eat that mush." She said.  
Rirī smiled and laughed.  
"Just because you were raised by the wolf gods doesn't mean you are not human. Besides, rice isn't all that bad. I found it is best when things are put over it." She said.  
Sasuke gave her a shocked look.  
"Since when?" He asked.  
"Well, in my traveling's, I've learned that there are many ways to eat rice. Putting things over it is one of my favorites." She replied.  
Ana rolled her eyes.  
"It doesn't matter. Rice is rice and rice is gross. I'll go hunting instead, thanks." She said, turning on her booted heel and leaving.  
"Still as wild as ever." Rirī remarked.  
Sasuke chuckled.  
"Yes, but she's happy and that's all I could ever want." He said.  
"How have things been since I left?" She asked, falling into stride with her adopted father and teacher.  
"Ill I'm afraid. We've harvested nearly all the iron in this area. Being our town relies on it for profit, it's not good news. I'm afraid that if we don't find more iron soon, the town will go bankrupt and everyone will starve." He said.  
"That's horrible. Is there anything I can do?" Rirī asked.  
"We think that neighboring towns maybe responsible for this, and are harvesting our iron and rice supply at night. Ana can't guard all the fields by herself. Maybe you could lend her your skills and help her?" Sasuke suggested.  
Rirī nodded.  
"I will do all I can to help you, Sasuke. It's the least I can do after you saved me from slavery." She said.  
He smiled, though his eyes showed he was still stressed.  
"Thank you, Kasai."

**A/N: I am so excited! This story is turning out better than I expected and I am really happy about all the reviews. Sorry it took me awhile to get some more chapters up. I was out sick for a week from school and have **_**a lot**_** of tests to make up. Still writing the story in my notebooks and I can barely contain my excitement! =D  
Thank you all for reading! You make my heart super happy 3 **


	16. Chapter 16

That night the moon was full and Ana's wolf brothers' white coats glowed mystically in its beams.  
"We'll take the areas near the mountains. You can stay here Kasai .Be careful though, alright?" Ana asked from the back of one of her white wolves.  
Rirī nodded, smiling slightly.  
"I will, you be careful as well." She said.  
Ana nodded once and then she and her wolves disappeared into the night.  
Rirī patrolled around the rice field, wishing that she hadn't been so eager to volunteer. Ana could days without sleep and still be as active as ever. Rirī on the other hand, needed her nightly sleep. With a yawn she walked around the perimeter of her post. Her left arm ached and she wished she would have listened to Sasuke when he told her to take herbs. She had always been stubborn about taking medication. When she first started living with Sasuke and Ana, they practically had to force the medicine down her throat when she was sick.  
She smiled a bit as she recalled the earlier years with her adopted parents. Ana was a wonderful mother figure in comparison to Rirī's true mother, who she could barely remember. Sasuke, despite his fierce battle composure, is a kind soul and a wonderful teacher.  
After freeing her from her master, Sasuke took the sixteen year old girl under his wing. He showed her the good in the world and how to see things that a pure despite the evil, and to forgive all the wicked.  
He taught her to fight because she wanted to learn.  
They gave her a sense of belonging, and Rirī felt she owed them the world.  
Going around the perimeter again, she tried to get out of her thoughts and back to reality.  
The moon was high in the sky, and during this time of year, it signified how late it was. Rirī tried to ignore that fact, due to her drowsy state.  
She stopped suddenly, believing she heard an off noise. She was correct; a wolf's howl sounded through the night, signifying Ana needed help.  
Rirī took off towards the mountains, following the same path Ana had taken. The wariness she bore before was now had completely gone, her blood pumping and heart pounding. She barely avoided a rabbit hole and stumbled over a fallen tree.  
Another howl sounded and Rirī quickened her pace.  
Finally she caught sight of the wolves, running about in battle formation. They were attacking some sort of demon.  
Rirī leapt forward and caught it off gurad by stabbing it in the back. He howled in pain, his long black hair flying as he turned struck his own sword at her.  
Rirī blocked the strike and leapt away to get more room to fight. Fighting with one hand was harder than she thought, but she managed almost flawlessly.  
The demon had ears and horns all over his head and he appeared to be blind, and fought well despite it.  
"Go back to your lands demon." Ana ordered.  
He spat in her direction.  
"Dumb human, I have a name. I am Yomi, and I plan on becoming king of Demon World." He said.  
'_Yomi?'_ Rirī asked herself.  
She herd that name somewhere before….  
"Not something you can do here in Human World. Go home." Ana spat.  
Yomi chuckled.  
"I need to practice murdering if I'm going to rise to power." He said.  
Ana growled.  
"Nasty creature, go back to your world for such villainy!" She yelled.  
Yomi gave a nasty grin and lunged forward, clipping the left flank of Ana's wolf, which gave a whine of pain and snarled at the demon.  
"Go back to my own world? Foolish wolf human, why would I go back now when I have an entire world of slaves here waiting to do my bidding? After enslaving the human race, I'll send them out to take over demon world, using the best warriors and demon slayers." He said.  
The word 'slave' made Rirī shiver a bit and she had a sudden hate for this demon.  
"I'll give you one last chance demon. Go home." Rirī growled.  
"Do you have problems with your hearing? I'm staying right here." Yomi replied. "Very well, you just signed your death warrant." Rirī said, and then she lunged forward, their swords clashing. The blind demon grinned.  
"You usually use two hands to fight with. I can tell by your stance. Did you break your arm human warrior?" He taunted.  
Ana growled, her wolves doing the same as they watched the battle.  
Rirī ignored his statement, knowing he was trying to make her lose focus.  
Suddenly Yomi stopped and leapt away and into a tree.  
"My time in this area is done, I need to go now. Try not to get yourself killed, slave." He said, and then vanished.  
At being called a slave, Rirī trembled in fear, nearly dropping her sword.  
Ana leapt off her wolf and went to her side.  
"Kasai, are you alright? You aren't hurt are you?" She asked.  
Rirī shook her head, closing her eyes tight to hold back tears.  
_'Who was that demon? How did he know _exactly_ how to get to me? The only person in the world who knows about my enslavement was_-'She bit her lip and growled.  
_'Youko.'_


	17. Chapter 17

Rirī sat at the table in her parent's home, trying to block out the memories of her enslavement. She curled into herself, too afraid to go to sleep, and tried to get out of her depression.  
Ana walked into the room and sat next to her, eating some sort of raw meat.  
"Kasai, try to snap out of it. It's the past, let it go." She said.  
Rirī nodded but truly she felt her mother was being a little insensitive to her situation.  
Sasuke poked his head into the room.  
"I hate to interrupt, but I need Ana for a moment." He said.  
Rirī knew something was wrong by the worried that stressed his features. She nodded her consent and Ana got up, following Sasuke out.  
Rirī sat up and scowled at herself.  
"Look at me. Moping around here feeling sorry for myself when they need my help." She scolded herself.  
She stood and left her parents' house.  
It was finally raining and Rirī decided to visit the town elder, Mazaki, to see if she could be of any help there.  
The old woman's house was in the center of the town, raised up a bit to show its wealth and superiority.  
Rirī ducked her head down against the rain and walked to the house.  
The women guards were reluctant, but let her in, escorting to a richly decorated office; an elder woman sitting at a desk, going over town paperwork.  
She looked up at Rirī with impatience.  
"You're Urufu's child." She said.  
"My mother doesn't go by that name. I am Kasai." Rirī said.  
The woman nodded, even in old age, she wore a lot of makeup, and her lipstick shimmered in the candle light.  
"And I take it you know me. I am Lady Mazaki, I care for Tataraba." She said.  
"I know. My father speaks fondly of you." Rirī said.  
"And your mother?"  
"She doesn't speak fondly of anyone aside from Sasuke."  
Mazaki laughed.  
"I can't blame her. It's my fault the forest has died and the iron is scarce anymore." She said.  
"Because of you, how?" Rirī asked, eyes wide.  
"I killed the Ōkina mori no sei." Mazaki said, sounding pleased with herself.  
"The Spirit of the Forest, it's not surprising that the forest it dead then." Rirī said.  
"And as punishment for that, the gods have condemned us to starve and never Harvest iron from this land again." Mazaki said.  
"Why not find a new cash crop? Your rice fields are very productive." Rirī suggested.  
"You and Sasuke think alike. He and I argue about such trivial things quite often. Even without the wolf gods stopping their attacks on us we still have to avoid those damn cliffs." Mazaki said.  
"Then go through the old forest."  
"Too many bandits and demons. We'd be better off on the cliffs." Mazaki groaned, rubbing her temples in annoyance.  
"Your father and I have this conversation every time we have a council." She said.  
Rirī nodded.  
"I would assume so, but that is not why I am here. I came to see if I could be of any help to your town while I stay here." She said.  
"How long do you plan on staying?" Mazaki asked.  
"Until my left arm is healed." Rirī said, referring to her broken arm.  
"Well if you want to help so much, you can help your mother clear the bandits and demons from our borders. That's all I have for you to do, if you must do something. Now go, I have a meeting scheduled later and I need my office cleared out." The Elder said.  
Rirī nodded and bowed.  
"Thank you Lady Mazaki. I will work hard." She said, and then she left.


	18. Chapter 18

Rirī walked back to her parents' house and decided to ignore the rain. She found that the town was quiet during these lovely summer rains. The air was humid, peaceful even, and soon Rirī reached the house.  
Ana had left her some clothes and shoes for the day.  
Rirī glanced around the house and frowned.  
The whole place was a mess.  
Dressing quickly and hanging her own cloths up to dry, Rirī decided she would clean it up.  
After all, it was the least she could do for these people for how kind they had been.  
But she could understand why their house was in such a state. Ana and Sasuke did more for this town than it did for itself.  
Soon, the house was clean and by the time she was done, the rain had stopped. The storm she thought was going to happen must have passes over them. Sighing, Rirī sat down at the fire to make tea.  
Ana hated tea; she preferred water over most drinks served here. But Sasuke loved the tea Rirī made, blending Irish and Japanese teas together into a strange, yet pleasant concoction.  
She heard voices and footsteps approach the house and she stood, dusting off her kimono, ready to welcome her parents' home.  
Two demons bandits walked in, arguing amongst themselves and stopped when they spotted Rirī.  
Mentally, She tried to remember where she had left her sword and recalled leaving it by the table where she had been sitting earlier this morning, just across the room from where she was presently.  
"She's the one who smells like him." The thinnest one said.  
"What do you mean? Yomi said it was a human warrior woman. This girl is as fragile as a flower." The other, much bigger, demon argued.  
"What are you doing here bandits?" Rirī demanded, inching her way to the table, pressing herself to the wall to look like a frightened girl.  
"We're looking for a woman who carries a sword; she knows a powerful warrior and we think she could take us to him." The skinny demon said.  
Sasuke immediately came to mind and Rirī bit back a growl.  
"I don't know either of them." She said innocently.  
"Nice try, but her scent is all over this room. Hey, it's even all over you." The fat demon said.  
"Idiot that is her scent! She's the swordswoman!" The skinny one yelled.  
Rirī darted forward, grabbed her sword, and unsheathed it.  
"Get out of my parents' house, now!" She ordered.  
The demons smirked and blocked the doorway.  
"We will, but you'll be coming with us, Ms. Kasai." The thin one said.  
They lunged forward to attack. Rirī glared at them and ran forward, jumping at the second demon, which had lunged at her first. His stance was sloppy and his huge size made him easy to defeat, if you avoided his claws.  
Rirī did just that, ducking under his swiping claws and stabbing him in the belly.  
She was hit with a ton of blood and drew out her sword, going towards the last demon. After seeing her phenomenal skills with the sword, the demon was seized with fear and he fled.  
Rirī watched him go and glared at the room, which was covered in blood.  
"So much for cleaning it." She huffed.  
She wiped her hands clean and took the screaming kettle off the fire and poured a cup of tea, sat down, and took a sip.  
She was halfway done when she heard more voices and footsteps.  
Ana walked in first, tripping over the huge body of the dead demon, Sasuke falling in behind her, literally.  
Both stared at the dead demon, speechless, and looked to Rirī with confused eyes.  
Unsure of what to say, Rirī raised her cup.  
"Would you like some tea?" She asked.


	19. Chapter 19

After cleaning up the bloody mess, they did want some tea; Sasuke did anyway.  
Rirī explained what had happened, telling them of a strange demon named Yomi, who was looking for Sasuke.  
"I have never heard of him." Sasuke said, eating his bowl of rice.  
"I told you, he's the demon who attacked Kasai and I last night in the woods." Ana said irritably.  
"I'm aware of that. But what I mean is that I never met him or gave him a cause to hate me." He said.  
"Demons don't need a reason. They're all vile and cruel. They act without thinking and kill without remorse." Ana said, fiercely slamming her fist down on the table, rattling the dishes.  
Rirī thought of Youko and how he thought the same way about humans.  
_'Except me.'_ She thought, recalling how he spoke of her kind heart.  
"It still doesn't add up. Why would he be after me?" Sasuke asked.  
"I've heard that demons fight beings they hear are strong to enjoy beating them and receiving a high reputation. You may have caught his eye, Sasuke." Rirī said.  
"I didn't realize I was such a popular topic of discussion." Sasuke said, a bit shocked.  
Ana rolled her eyes.  
"The dummy, if a mouse came and took his lunch when he wasn't looking he'd sit there and try to recall when he ate his food." She said.  
Sasuke gave her an annoyed glance.  
"Ana, I'm not that dense." He said.  
"Sasuke, we have more important things to discuss. These demons are hunting you!" Rirī said.  
"She's right, Sasuke. Demons are nothing to take lightly. Especially these ones. They've evolved into intellectual creatures. These demons are calculating and patient." Ana warned.  
Rirī wished they'd speak less harshly about demons, considering Youko was nothing like these demons at all.  
'Then again, the night we met, he was just as violent and brutal as the other demons I have met.' She thought. 'Are other demons like that? Are they simply misunderstood?'  
"What do you suggest we do? I have to help Mazaki see reason and change our cash crop to rice. I have no time to be hiding or fighting demons." Sasuke said.  
Kasai and I can guard the town and make sure no one can sneak in." Ana said.  
"No, have the normal guards do that. Ana, you and I can be sure nothing slips passed out borders. Ana can stay by Sasuke's side and be sure that is anything gets passes me he will be safe. I can take the forests around the town. I know Sasuke is more than capable of defending himself, but I am afraid of this Yomi. He knows things about me and who knows what he may know about you Sasuke. I am certain that something bad is going to occur and I am determined to keep it from happening, whatever it may be." Rirī said.  
Both Ana and Sasuke nodded in agreement.  
"Very well Kasai. We will follow your plan." Sasuke said.  
Rirī nodded.  
"We will put this plan into action tonight." She said.  
Ana sighed.  
"What of your arm? Take one of my wolves with you, if you are going to wander out there." She said.  
"Yes, Ana. Of course." Rirī said, though she wasn't sure it was a good idea.  
'Those white wolves are like a bonfire. Anyone can spot one and avoid it if they choose. How will I be able to sneak up on demons or bandits with one of Ana's wolves glowing brightly in the moonlight?' She thought.  
"I will go check with Mazaki and inform her." Sasuke said as he stood.  
"She said she was going to be in a meeting with someone today." Rirī told him.  
He gave her a kind smile.  
"That would be me." He informed her.  
"Oh." She said, feeling rather dumb.  
'Naturally, it would be Sasuke. Who else would go visit that one armed old lady? She's going mad with old age and destroying what's left of this town.' She thought.  
"Well, try not to get too bored, Sasuke." Ana said, rolling her eyes when Mazaki was mentioned.  
"Trust me, I won't. Were discussing important matters." He said.  
"And getting nowhere…" Rirī mumbled.  
Ana giggled and Sasuke rolled his eyes.  
"It's not that bad." He said, and then was gone.


	20. Chapter 20

For the whole week, Rirī helped carry out the plan. She managed to convince Ana's wolves to go on the other side of the perimeter to keep watch.  
It didn't take long for things to go amiss.  
A howl told her that he found a demon. Running quickly to his aid, Rirī was glad to have some action after such a boring week. She got stuck in the mud a few times but soon she caught sight of one of Ana's wolves pursuing a demon.  
The wolf passed by and stopped to let her on his back.  
"What is it?" She asked as they continued to chase the demon.  
"A fox demon and an old one at that. He was making a beeline for Tataraba." He said.  
"Fox?" Rirī asked aloud, her mind going straight to Youko.  
_'Could it really be him, or is it just a random fox demon?'_ She thought.  
Her questions would be answered soon, for they were right on the demon's tail. Rirī caught sight of silver ears and hair. Not wanting the wolf to hurt the demon in case it was Youko, She stood on the wolf's back and leapt onto the fox.  
She could remember her wolf's yelp of surprise and a blur of pain and silver as she and the demon crashed to the ground.  
Rirī leapt up quickly, ignoring the agonizing pain in her left arm and held her sword at the ready.  
Youko stayed on the ground, knowing that if he made an offensive move, the wolf would attack him. Instead, he smiled at Rirī.  
"This is how you welcome friends to your town Kasai?" He asked.  
"You are no friend demon." Ana's wolf growled.  
Rirī held up a hand to the wolf.  
"It's ok, Kurama is a friend." She said.  
There was a grunt of disapproval from the wolf.  
"What brings you here?" She asked Youko.  
"I was in the area and went by the inn to check on you, but they told me you had left and you were heading to Tataraba." He said.  
Then he smirked.  
"And after I was _so_ worried about you, you send your pet dog-"  
"Wolf."  
"Right, wolf-dog, to kill Me."  
"I'm sorry, we have been having problems with demons and bandits lately. A demon is after my adopted father, Sasuke. So Ana, her wolves, and myself are putting up a guard to keep the town safe, as well as my father." Rirī said.  
Youko's eyes narrowed and he shook his head.  
"You just don't know how to stay out of trouble do you?" He asked.  
"Oh, spare me. You have your faults as well." She said, rolling her eyes.  
The wolf took his leave to continue the watch.  
"So you came back here, to nurse your wound?" Youko asked.  
"Something like that. This town needs me more than I need them." Rirī said.  
Youko looked to her right hand, which clutched her left arm in pain.  
"You haven't been faring to well have you?" He asked.  
She noticed he was looking at her arm and let go of it, biting her lip as she did so.  
"I've been faring well enough. How have things been going with you? Did you get your men back?" She asked.  
"No. Someone else got to them first. The scent is familiar and it has led me to this area. I've been tracking him. Apparently he's near Tataraba. It may be my men who have been giving you trouble Rirī." He said.  
She bit her lip harder.  
"Then I am sorry. Had I known, I wouldn't have killed the few dozen who attacked me this week." She said, bowing her head in shame.  
Youko stood and dusted himself off.  
"It's alright. You'd be a fool not to defend yourself." He said.  
Rirī nodded.  
Youko's ear flicked backwards suddenly and he turned as well, sniffing the air.  
"What is it?" Rirī asked, trying to get her human ears to capture the noise Youko heard.  
He growled.  
"It's them. They've followed me, I'm sure of it." He hissed.  
"I'll take them out. You hide your aura and let me take care of it." She said.  
"But your arm-"  
"I'll be fine. I'd be a fool to only know to fight with my left arm. Now go." She said.  
Youko nodded once, and then vanished.  
Now Rirī could hear the breaking of branches and the voices of five demons. When they crashed into sight, they sniffed the air and pointed at her.  
"That's her, that's the girl Yomi is looking for! The Kasai woman!" One of them shouted.  
She didn't flinch and gazed at them un phased.  
"Well, you found me." She said, sounding bored.  
This angered them.  
"Stupid woman! You're coming with us." Their leader said, coming towards her.  
"That's an entertaining idea. I don't think I'll be going anywhere with you. You'd have better luck pulling out your own teeth." She said.  
With a growl of irritation, he leapt forward, his blade-like claws shooting forward, growing long and ready to seize Rirī within their grasp. But the girl was too fast, dodging and hitting the demon on the back of the head then going after the other demons. They growled at her and she took them out easily, being sure not to kill them, in case they were Youko's men.  
When all of them were knocked out, Rirī went to a tree and leaned against it. Youko appeared suddenly.  
"Yomi is looking for you?" He practically growled.  
"It seems so. Earlier this week two demons came into Sasuke's home and tried to take me." Rirī said, closing her eyes against the throbbing of her arm.  
"Why is he after you? Do you know?" He asked.  
"They know I'm close to Sasuke, and they're trying to use me to get to him. At least, that's what I believe is going on." She replied.  
Youko growled, causing Rirī to open an eye to look at him. He was glaring at his men, kicking at them and she could see how malevolent he was.  
"Youko?" She asked quietly, her voice concerned.  
He looked up at her, his eyes hard in anger.  
"Rirī, you should leave." He said.  
"Why?" She asked.  
"Yomi is coming and I don't want you near here when he arrives." He told her.  
Rirī stayed firm.  
"I'll stay right here. Anyone who threatens my family shouldn't be alive to make those threats a reality." She said.  
Sighing in annoyance, Youko stood in front of her.  
"Then stay behind me. I'll be angry if you get hurt." He said.  
Rirī complied, deciding not to test what little patience the fox seemed to have. They staid quiet and still, Rirī standing behind Youko, her sword drawn and ready.  
Yomi came out in the open, smirking at Youko and Rirī.


	21. Chapter 21

"Well, I guess I don't need that woman after all. She led me right to you Kurama." Yomi said.  
_'Kurama? I thought he was after Sasuke.'_ Rirī thought.  
"And you found me. Now what is it that you want?" Youko demanded.  
"Isn't obvious? I can't let you get away with abandoning me. You'll have to pay dearly for that. I was going to kill your woman Kasai there but torturing you to death sounds much more appealing." Yomi said a smug look on his face.  
"That's and amusing idea, Yomi. But I'm not in the mood for your games. Go bother someone else." Youko said.  
Rirī remained quiet, suppressing a shiver as Yomi's blind gaze caught on her.  
"That's Sasuke's adopted daughter isn't it? I fought with her not too long ago." He said fondly.  
Youko snarled.  
"Does that make you angry Kurama? Apparently she was a slave once. I figured it out easily. I'm going to enslave the humans. I'll make her my first human slave, just to amuse me." Yomi said, chuckling a bit.  
Goosebumps rose on Rirī's arms.  
"You'll leave the humans alone Yomi. They haven't done wrong towards you." Youko said with a growl.  
Yomi continued to face Rirī, ignoring Youko's words.  
"Human, you know we can smell fear, right?" He laughed.  
Rirī glared at him.  
"It's probably your upper lip." She snapped.  
"She's a smart ass, Kurama. I didn't know you liked feisty women. Then again, you've always enjoyed a challenge." Yomi said.  
"Shut up you damn lecher! Go spit your poison words somewhere else!" Rirī yelled.  
"Kasai, don't lose yourself." Youko said quietly.  
Yomi laughed.  
"I'll come back for you Kurama, and your woman. I know a few slave traders who will pay a handsome price for such a pretty face." He hissed, and then vanished.  
Youko growled then turned to Rirī and his hard gaze went soft as he looked at her.  
"Rirī, you're shaking." He said worriedly.  
"I-I am?" She asked and noticed that yes, she was shaking.  
"Oh, I am. Sorry." She said, feeling ashamed.  
_'How could I have been manipulated so easily? It's as if all my progress moving passed the horrors of my enslavement was for nothing._' She thought.  
"Rirī, go home. I'll take your place in the watch. You need to rest." Youko said.  
"No, I have to stay. Ana would have a fit if I let you take over." She said.  
"Fine, then I'm staying with you." He said.  
Rirī sighed and nodded, walking back to her post.  
"Very well."  
He followed her silently, and from time to time she found herself looking over her shoulder to see if he was still there. They reached the area she had been earlier that night and she began to make her rounds. She listened to the forest around her, the frogs in the mud puddles caused by the rain, and the small sound of Youko's breathing behind her.  
He was watching her, and it would've been enough to drive her mad, had she paid attention. Instead, her thoughts were racing, trying to think of anything but her enslavement.  
_'Why did Yomi have to show up? Why did he have to bring up my worst fears?_' She thought, the image of Yomi laughing in her head.  
"The people of this town, they value your life don't they?" Youko asked suddenly.  
Rirī was startled at first but nodded.  
"Yes, at least, I assume they do. Sasuke and Ana seem to be the only ones though, if anyone did. I don't care about the others. I don't live to please them. I don't hunt for the sympathy of others." She said.  
Youko gave her a hard look.  
"You told me no one valued your life, so you had no reason to value it. That was a lie." He said.  
"I do not value my life, Youko, it is not important whether I live or die. Sasuke and Ana are the only ones who might care, but I never see them. Besides, you've told many lies as well. Do not be angry with me because you wasted your sympathy." Rirī said.  
She turned away from him and looked out at the rice field. The clouds were gathering again.  
Youko stood next to her.  
"You are strange Rirī. I have never known anyone as reckless and confusing as you, yet, you're the only human I have met that makes sense." He said.  
"Are you the only demon like this? Are demons just misunderstood?" She asked.  
He chuckled.  
"Strange indeed." He said, agreeing with himself.  
Seeing her questions were ignored purposely, Rirī sighed and continued to listen to the forest.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hello my dears! I'm sorry I haven't been updating as often as we all would like, but trust me, you'll be happy with the results! I have spent the past week writing for this story and also got to have a social life for a day! 3  
I made up all my tests and exams, for those of you who were wondering.  
I also was wondering if you all could do me a favor.  
Everyone likes music right? Well, I **_**adore**_** it and I would like to listen to music that kind of goes with this story. If you all could send me the names or links to your songs, I'd be **_**super-duper**_** happy!  
Here is the story!**

As the sun rose, Rirī walked back to Tataraba, accompanied by Youko.  
"You don't have to go with me. As you can see, I'm fine." She told him.  
"From what I can see, you are exhausted and weak. Any demon can smell how tired you are and then you'll be killed." He said firmly.  
Rirī rolled her eyes, but in truth, she was grateful for his company. There was something about the fox demon's presence that made her feel safe. The guards at the gate were surprised to see a demon with Rirī and refused to open the gate.  
"What can't you let us in?" Rirī demanded.  
"Mazaki said that demons are not permitted in her town. We'd never disobey Lady Mazaki!" They yelled down.  
"Go fetch Ana or Sasuke; I'm sure they will make an exception. This man saved my life." Rirī told them.  
"Man? That is a demon, Kasai! He probably saved you to kill you later!" One said.  
Youko growled but Rirī held up a had to stop him.  
"I swear on my life that he means us no harm. If he had meant to kill me, he would have. Now, go get Sasuke." Rirī said calmly.  
The guards whispered amongst themselves for a moment then disappeared.  
"You're a fool, swearing your life like that on my behavior. What if I get the urge to kill those annoying humans?" He asked.  
"You won't. Besides, I saved your life as well. I doubt you would betray me." She said.  
"Those guards are women." He observed.  
She nodded.  
"They tax my patience, which is difficult." He said.  
"The women here will do that. I would say you'll get used to that, but they always seem to find more ways to annoy me." She said.  
"Sounds pleasant." He said flatly.  
The gate opened and Sasuke came out to meet them.  
"Kasai, what is all this nonsense about letting a demon in Tataraba?" He asked.  
"Sasuke, this is Kurama. He saved my life not too long ago." Rirī said.  
Sasuke met Youko's eyes hesitantly for a brief moment then looked back to Rirī.  
"That's nice, but you know that demons are not allowed in Tataraba. Get him out of here before people start to panic." He said.  
Rirī's eyes went angry.  
"Sasuke, of all people, I expected you to understand. I refuse to send Kurama away. Now let him in." She said.  
"Now Kasai, you sound like a child." Sasuke said.  
Rirī did not argue, but remained firm, keeping her postiton next to Youko.  
Sasuke sighed in annoyance.  
"Stop this, Rirī. Go inside and send that demon away." He told her.  
"What's wrong now?"  
Both turned to see Ana walking towards them irritably. She looked up at Youko and back at Rirī.  
"He saved your life?" she asked.  
Rirī nodded.  
"Then he is welcome here, we owe him as much for saving our most valuable fighter." Ana said.  
Rirī bowed her head.  
"Thank you Ana." She said.  
They led Youko into Tataraba, Rirī relieved that everything worked out so well.  
"I need to go to a meeting with Mazaki. Try to be sure you keep your _friend_ out of trouble." Sasuke said.  
Rirī nodded and looked to Youko, who was cautiously looking everywhere at once.  
"What are you doing Kurama?" She asked after Sasuke and Ana left.  
"This place is crawling with brothel women." He said, his voice unreadable.  
"So?" Rirī asked, confused.  
"Kasai brought a real demon in Tataraba!" A woman shouted.  
"He's so handsome! He can't be a demon!" Said another.  
"Look at those ears! They're so cute! And that tail!" Said a third.  
Women were beginning to come closer to Rirī and Youko.  
Youko's ears flattened against his head and he let out a snarl, coming to stand close to Rirī.  
"Hey handsome, why don't you come with us. We can show you were we work at the brothel."  
"Yeah, come spend your time with some real women."  
"Enough now. Kurama has important matters to tend to. He has no time for you all. Good day to you." Rirī said, grabbing Youko's hand and pulling him to her parents' house, who followed behind eagerly.  
The whines of disappointment could be heard behind them.  
"Quite comical, aren't they?" Rirī asked as she walked into the hose.  
The house was still filled with the scent of demon blood and Youko bit his lip at the strong scent. Rirī noticed and flushed in embarrassment.  
"Sorry, I hope it's not too pungent." She said.  
"No, I'll get used to it." He said politely, bringing a hand up to cover his sensitive nose.  
"Why don't you wait outside and I'll make some tea?" She suggested.  
Youko gave an eager nod and left.  
Rirī sighed and gave a yawn, becoming drowsy fast. She made tea and took her herbs for the pain in her arm. After a few minutes, she went outside to bring Youko his tea.  
Outside, Youko was surrounded by brothel women. He sat ignoring them, looking like he was patiently waiting for something while the women chatted around him like birds.  
"Kurama." Rirī said gently, once and clear.  
His ears perked up at the sound of her voice and he looked up to meet her gaze, looking happy to see her. His tail even flicked a little from side to side in silent joy. The other women seemed to notice because their excite chatter stopped and they faced Rirī, a look of envy on each of their faces.  
"I'm sorry, but I only have enough tea for Kurama and myself. I'll have to ask you all to leave." Rirī said, coming to stand next to where Youko was sitting.  
Groans of dejection were heard and the women left, save one.  
Rirī decided to ignore her and gave Youko his tea.  
"Thank you, Kasai." He said, his hard gold eyes on the woman who stayed behind. She snatched Rirī's tea from her hands and took a sip.  
"Yes, thank you Kasai." She said, sounding as though she meant the opposite.  
Rirī nodded and sat down next to Youko.  
"You're welcome Kurama." She said, too tired to argue with the woman.  
Youko, however, was beyond annoyed.  
"Women like you try my patience. Kasai, you stand up to Yomi and other demons, including myself, yet you let this beastly woman steal your tea from you?" He demanded.  
Rirī leaned back against the house and closed her eyes.  
"It's only tea." She stated.  
The woman glared at her, then at Youko.  
"Beastly? That girl at your side is as beastly as they come! God knows where Sasuke picked her up from, but she defiantly isn't one of us. She goes around Japan killing people just for kicks! Not to mention the beastly scars she has all over her body. Have you seen them? I bet you have. I heard she used to be _loose_." The woman said.  
Youko growled.  
"Go home. Your words are nothing here." Rirī said with a yawn.  
With a tiny huff of anger, the woman threw down the cup of tea and stormed off.  
"She broke your tea cup." Youko remarked.  
"I'll buy a new one." Rirī mumbled, half asleep.  
"I can see what you mean about this town. These people are savage." He said.  
He looked to Rirī's now sleeping form.  
"Yet, I've never seen you more alive. Your happiness is evident the moment you walk through the gates. It's the closest thing you have to a home, and you embrace it. I envy you, Rirī." He said.  
He reached over and moved her bangs from her face then continued to drink his tea.


	23. Chapter 23

Rirī shivered against the cold shackles at her wrists and ankles. Her long hair didn't provide any warmth to her nude body and she shivered again. The room was dark and she was sick with a fever. They always isolated slaves and punished them for getting sick like this.  
Then the door opened and the light flooded in. She heard the crack of a whip and her body tensed, preparing for the pain that was sure to come. Hands grabbed her shoulders and she screamed in fear.  
A kind voice spoke to her.  
"Rirī, are you alright? Rirī?"  
_Youko_.  
Suddenly her eyes shot open, the afternoon sun peeking through the gathering clouds overhead.  
"Rirī?"  
She looked in front of her and met the eyes of Youko; golden eyes full of worry.  
"Youko, what's wrong?" She asked, her voice giving away her fear.  
He gave her a concerned look.  
"You were whimpering in your sleep and screamed when I touched you. Do you have a nightmare?" He asked.  
Rirī flushed in embarrassment, feeling like a child.  
"Yes, but it's nothing to be concerned with." She said.  
"No, it is important. What happened?" He demanded.  
She sighed.  
"It was a memory from my enslavement, that's all." She said.  
Youko's eyes were soft as he looked at her, but she could see the straight line of his mouth and his jaw set in anger. He embraced her for a brief moment.  
"I'm sorry." He said.  
"Don't be, it's all in the past." She said.  
He gave her an unreadable expression, and then looked around.  
Rirī gasped.  
"It's noon already! Why did you let me sleep so long?" She exclaimed.  
"You needed rest. You've been awake for a week straight." He said.  
"How did you know?" she asked, surprised.  
"Urufu told me you have a lot of things plaguing your mind." He said.  
"Ana said that?" She asked.  
Youko nodded.  
"I must admit, I'm quite worried for you. You keep this up and you won't be able to protect anyone, due to your poor health." He said.  
"That reminds me, why is Yomi after you? I think he said something about you betraying him?" Rirī said.  
Youko gave a soft chuckle.  
"Strange indeed." He said.  
Rirī glared at him but he spoke again.  
"Yomi used to be one of my best men. He was right behind Kuronue and we were a terrible trio. However, he was a loose cannon and was straight forward; very impatient. He would take groups of my men and go off on his own, getting most of them killed. I would always have to come to rescue him. One day, I grew tired of his games and warned him to stop, else there would be consequences. He didn't listen, thinking I'd let him off with another warning. So I sent an assassin to blind him. Of course, this was a few decades ago. Now he has gotten stronger and is using my strategies against me." He said.  
Rirī gave a laugh and Youko shot her a confused frown.  
"And you say I can't keep out of trouble." She said  
He gave her an amused smile.  
"I guess that was a hypocritical statement, wasn't it?" he said.  
"Yes. So, how are you planning on dealing with him? From what I have gathered, he's the one who saved your captured men and he's using them against you like pawns." She said.  
"Thank you for stating the obvious." Youko groaned.  
"Sorry…"  
"It's alright. Yomi has been tracking me for some time, using any leads he can get. My best guess is he will attack again tonight, and now that he has a better understanding of who I am aquatinted with, the blow will be a mighty one. I intend to lead him away from Tataraba tonight." He said.  
"I'm grateful, but what about you? Won't you get caught eventually?" She asked.  
He glared at her mildly.  
"Have some faith in me, Rirī. I'm not a fool." He said.  
"I could help you. I could go with you and watch your back." She suggested.  
"No, I'll need you here, guarding the town in case a few demons come here instead. If Yomi has improved his strategic, that will be his move." Youko said.  
Rirī nodded.  
"Alright, just promise me you'll be careful." She said.  
He raised an eyebrow.  
"That's strange. You're beginning to sound like me. Don't tell me that you've grown to care for me." He said, his cocky tone back.  
"Naturally, I've grown to care for you as a close friend, being you are the only living person who knows my true name. Try not to act like an arrogant fool, Youko. It doesn't suit you." She said, folding her arms over her chest and looking up at the sky, though she wore a small smile.  
The clouds were darkening, turning a scary color.  
"Another down pour; tonight will be grand, wont it?" She said dreamily.  
Youko shrugged.  
"I don't mind a run in the rain. Do you?" He asked.  
"I love the rain. It gives the earth life. I don't see how anyone could hate it." She replied.  
He chuckled.  
"Mainly the people who catch colds." He said.  
"They just don't realize the beauty of it." Rirī declared.  
"No, I guess not." Youko agreed.

-End Part Two


	24. Chapter 24

"And Kasai, you'll stand outside the gate right here." Ana said, pointing to a map of Tataraba and the surrounding lands.  
Youko, Rirī, Sasuke, Ana, and Mazaki gathered in Mazaki's office to discuss and form the night's strategy. Youko was reluctant to receiving help, but Rirī was determined to be of some use to him.  
"It's no good. Yomi could target Kasai and putting her at the front gate would be like offering him a present. If he fails to catch me, he will give up and come back for her. She should be somewhere he'll least expect." Youko said.  
"Kasai is our strongest fighter. If we are attacked by demons, we will need her at the front line." Mazaki said.  
"She's right. This town will never survive an attack from demons unless Kasai is at the front line." Sasuke said.  
"That is the fastest way to get her killed. Yomi knows Kasai is a close friend of mine. He will try to take her and use her against me. He already said as much during our last encounter with him." Youko said.  
"If he said that, why would you believe him?" Sasuke asked.  
Youko glared at him.  
"I would be a fool not to heed a threat." He said.  
"It's his way of throwing you off to make you worry for no reason. He won't really do it." Ana said.  
"I doubt it." Youko growled.  
"I think we should listen to Kurama. He knows this demon very well. He has a better chance of predicting what Yomi will do." Rirī said.  
"Kasai, I don't agree with his strategy. We also have to think about the survival of our town. You are our best fighter; we will need you at the gate to help defend Tataraba." Mazaki said.  
"You'd gamble with her life like that?" Youko growled.  
"We are all gambling with our lives, demon. For a mess you created. Be grateful of that." Sasuke said.  
Youko glared at him.  
"Enough of your hostility, Sasuke. Do what Kurama says." Rirī said.  
"Forget it Kasai. I don't want you risking your life for me. Or this town." Youko said angrily.  
He stood and left the room.  
Rirī gave a quick glare to her parents and Mazaki before following Youko out.  
He wasn't anywhere in sight and Rirī sighed in frustration.  
"I'm sorry." She said to her feet.  
She turned around and went back in.  
"Did he run away?" Sasuke asked.  
Rirī sat down and gave him a glare.  
"Kasai, no need to act like a child." Ana said.  
Rirī closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.  
"You are the ones acting like children. You're immature behavior this evening was cruel. I'm surprised Kurama didn't kill you." She said.  
_'Then again, he did say he didn't want to risk my life. He must have remembered my vow.'_ She thought.  
"What a thing to say Kasai! You hold that demon to human standards!" Sasuke said.  
Rirī's eyes snapped open in anger.  
"How dare you, you hypocrite! He has emotions, feelings, and a conscience just like us! Though he may not be human, he is one of the most humane people I have ever met!" She said.  
"How can you say something like that about a demon?" Ana said.  
"You should have killed him for his insolence!" Mazaki said.  
"Enough. Let's calm down." Rirī said, speaking in a firm tone.  
"Kasai-"  
"Sasuke, let's stop insulting my friend. You all have been very rude." Rirī said.  
"Fine, Kasai. You want to help this demon so much, then go ahead. But you will have to make a deal with me first." Mazaki said.  
Rirī's eyes narrowed.  
"And what's that?" she asked.  
"You will serve Tataraba for the rest of your life."  
"Fine." Rirī said without hesitation.  
Mazaki looked to Ana and Sasuke.  
"Are you two okay with this?" She asked.  
"I don't care." Ana said.  
"Nor do I. Do as you wish Mazaki." Sasuke replied.  
Rirī felt a twist of betrayal in her heart at them agreeing to her enslavement.  
"Good. We'll keep you near the rice fields to the north, since you want to follow your demon's wishes so badly." Mazaki said.  
"Looks like your demon gets his way after all, Kasai." Sasuke said.  
Rirī didn't reply and stood.  
"Go take position. We have a long night ahead of us." Ana said.  
Rirī nodded and left.  
_'I can understand why Youko hates humans. Yet, even now as I have lost my freedom to yet another human, I can't bring myself to hate them.'_ She thought.  
A few rain drops fell on her.  
_'Ana was right. This is going to be a long night.'_


	25. Chapter 25

The walk to where she was stationed was a long one. After crossing the lake that acted like a moat for Tataraba, Rirī had to go through the northern forest, which was on a massive mountain. She avoided the main path.  
'_They should have planned this more. What if Youko leads them in this direction? Or, what if they're coming from this direction? They'll probably follow my scent right up here, and that will defeat the purpose of all of this. Damn, if Youko would have staid we could have planned this better._' She thought.  
"Kasai!"  
Rirī turned and looked at the main path down the cliff below her. A boy from Tataraba rode up, desperation in his voice.  
"What's wrong?" She asked him.  
"Mazaki's ordered you to come aid us at the front. They're terribly outnumbered!" He cried.  
Rirī wasted no time, and quickly mounted the boy's horse.  
"Hurry!" He yelled as she galloped away.  
Rirī wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea to listen to Mazaki.  
_'She going and doing the opposite of what Youko said.'_ She thought.  
By now, the rain was pouring down, and at the speed she was going, it was stabbing into her skin like needles. Her clothes were soaked through and the hard leather of the saddle hurt her bottom. Not to mention she was going against the wind, sending the rain into her eyes like bee stings. Soon she reached the lake.  
The sound of rainfall on the water was nearly deafening. She could barely make out the sound of gunfire across it, coming from Tataraba.  
Knowing she'd never reach them in time is she took the normal mountain road to get the town; she leapt off her mount and dove into the water.  
'_I'm soaked through anyway._' She told herself.  
Keeping her sheathed sword in her left hand, she swam across the lake.  
That took some time though, being exhaustion took hold of her half way across, but she didn't stop.  
Finally, she reached the other side, panting heavily. Demons were swarming outside the outer wall. Tataraba's gunmen and gunwomen were shooting at them but they're bullets were not enough to pierce their thick skin, bullets bouncing off the demons like a rubber ball. Rirī ran up the hill to the gate, towards the heart of the chaos. The demons were so preoccupied with trying to beat down the wall; they didn't notice Rirī slip under them to come to stand between them and the gate.  
"Pardon me, demons, but I must ask you to leave now." Rirī said.  
It was enough to get their attention, and they glared at her.  
"Foolish human woman." One hissed.  
"She's a warrior." Another pointed out.  
"Good, her head is mine!"  
Rirī took a stance, drawing her sword.  
"Idiots! She's the girl we're here for!"  
"The why is she presenting herself to us like this? Shouldn't she be hiding, or with Kurama? She is his woman after all."  
Annoyed with their discussion, Rirī sprang into action.  
She took the first demon out with one blow. The others quickly advanced. Rirī was too exhausted to recall what she was doing; only going off instinct as she fought the demons. On the mountain in front of the town, a silver figure was running away. The fastest demons were chasing him, but he evaded their attacks with graceful acrobatics. The roar of a demon caught her attention and she saw a demon the size of a large building came at her with a club. She went to dodge, but underestimated his speed and he slammed her into the gate, the spikes of his club digging into her arms and hips. She used her arms to block her vital organs at the last second.  
A dart that looked like a rose nailed the demon in the back of the head and Rirī knew it was from Youko.  
Moving quickly, Rirī went after the other demons, but the pain in her left arm was becoming too much to ignore. It got the better of her for a second and that was all another demon needed to come up behind her and stab into the flesh that connected her shoulder to her neck. She cried out in pain, turning quickly and killing the demon. Another demon bit into her right arm while she did this.  
_'I'm getting murdered here. What happened to the gunfire? Why isn't anyone else fighting?'_ She wondered, stabbing the demon in the throat.  
She looked up and saw everyone in the village, sitting comfortably behind their walls, watching her fight for her life and for theirs. Anger was the first emotion to reach her and she fought harder. Demons died at her hands by the second, but she barely made a dent in the swarm that was here to take her.  
Now, Rirī was overcome with hopelessness. She was bleeding to death and taking on a whole army alone.  
"Fine, if they want me to protect them, then protect them I will. Not one demon will get into Tataraba. But after I am done here, I will never return here, not after this." She said.  
With this set in her mind, she charged forward with a bit of renewed strength.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Hey everyone sorry to leave you hanging on that last chapter for so long. I know that cliff hanger was angering a few people. I have been so busy with the first draft of it that I forgot to update. Luckily for all of you my friend kept reminding me that I need to update and I found the time to work on my typing. I also figured out paragraphs! So for all of you who are real big in English, this must be a heaven sent skill for me to have figured out. Sorry if it isn't as good as it should be. Keep in mind, I'm not a scholar. Well, enough of me! Here is the next chapter!

With her new spirits and motivation, Rirī had killed only half of the demon army. Of course, she could tell any difference; she hadn't moved. She remained at the gate, demons practically lined up to challenge her. She'd take on ten at once, receive mostly minor injuries, and the next ten would immediately advance. Sometimes shed look up and still see Youko trying to lose the demons set on his trail in the mountains. She worried for him, but mostly, she worried for herself.

_'There isn't any way I can finish off the rest of this army. I'm going to die fighting the next quarter and then the people of this town will panic, give up and die._' She thought.

Ten more advanced, one wielding a huge sword that cut into her shoulder. After a cry of pain, she leapt up and beheaded him. The sun was rising, turning the sky many magnificent colors. The dominant color though was red, blood red, but Rirī was certain it was just her. Most of the people guarding the gate had left; too tired to watch Rirī fight any longer, assuming that she would be killed any second now anyway. But the swordswoman fought on. Blisters formed on her hands where she was holding her sword. Some time ago she forgot about her pain, and she feared it was a sign that she was going mad.

'_I've never felt so betrayed in all my life. Because it is me these demons are here for, Tataraba has locked me out. It's my problem; I should have to deal with it. But they do not understand that if I die, the demons will feed on their townspeople. That's why I fight, why I haven't dropped from exhaustion. They will all be killed._' She thought. She looked up and saw a few people who were curious on the outcome. Quickly she turned her focus back to fighting. _'Yet they sit and watch me fight for my life like an animal. Even my 'adopted parents' have decided to silently watch me fight with their uncaring eyes. I never want to step foot in that town again, promise or no promise. It's really sad how this turned out. I really didn't lie to Youko. My life holds no value to anyone, aside from him. The proof that he cares is all around me, fighting me. If he didn't care, not a single demon would be here. So if he values my life, then I will as well.'_

A demon took her by surprise, leaping forward and thrusting his claws into her side. Demons roared in victory.

"She's done for!" Someone said from the gate.

"We got her!" The demons cheered.

Rirī looked up and glared at them, cutting off the demon's arm and then its head.

"I'm not dead yet." She panted.

She lunged forward and attacked again. Roars of disappointment echoed throughout the valley, but it only made Rirī grin, and she took this as another sign that she was going mad. She continued her fight, sometimes losing her footing and slipping in her own blood, but she stayed firm. It was nearly noon when she reached the last ten, but her strength was spent. She leaned heavily against her sword, looking up at the monstrous demons before her through half lidded eyes.

"The others were merely pawns to exhaust your energy. We are the ones you should have saved your strength for." The tallest one said.

He bore an axe twice Rirī's size and she decided it would be best to rush in and kill him quickly before he had a chance to swing. She weakly took a stance, but cried out and held her left arm she had more than reopened its wound.

"I don't have time for you to whine. Just kill her so we can eat and get out of here." The leader said.

Five of the huge demons came at her and she used her right arm to grip her sword, swinging it about her in a circle motion, killing all five at once.

"How did you have the strength to do that, human?" the leader yelled.

Rirī felt something new stir in her soul. Following instinct, she dropped her sword and took a fighting stance, causing the lead demon to laugh.

"Cocky, aren't you, girl? Going to fight us without any weapons?" he asked, his voice mocking her.

Rirī glared at him weakly.

'_I have some sort of strange power inside me. Whatever it is, I can only use one blast of it. That's it. After that, I don't think I will be able to survive._' She thought.

She looked up and made an orb of pure energy in her hands.

"Whoa, wait a second! She can use Spirit Energy?" a demon asked, sounding frightened.

"Yomi didn't mention anything about Spirit Energy!" another cried.

"It doesn't matter; she'll only kill herself faster. Attack!" the leader yelled.

Rirī braced herself, ready to release this new power on these demons when a flash of silver caught her attention. Youko was injured and about to be taken by his pursuers. Knowing she owed him for saving her life not too long ago, she fired her orb of Energy at the demons that were cornering him and hit, killing them instantly. The demons cornering her stared in shock at the explosion in the mountain behind them then back at her, laughing.

"So sweet; a last attempt to save your precious lover, how typical of a human." The leader said.

Completely drained, Rirī fell down, landing on her knees in the pool of her blood. She numbly held her sword in the fingertips of her right hand.

'_There is no logic to why I am alive. But if I can, I'll kill these demons, and then get out of here._' She decided.

All four demons came at her at once, their leader staying behind lazily. She gripped her sword and moved to get up, but her injuries finally got the best of her, not allowing her to move an inch without making her cry out in pain. One of the demons advancing on her stopped the others.

"Look at the poor girl, can't even get up." He mocked.

He knelt before her and grabbed her chin, but she was too weak to fight his grip.

"Look at that pretty face. I'm glad it wasn't touched so I could break it myself." He chuckled.

His fist slammed across her face, Rirī whimpering in pain.

"So pretty. You guys let me have this one. She smells good enough to eat; the others even bled her out for Me." he purred, licking her blood from his hand.

The others nodded and left, seeing no point in fighting over a practically dead human.

"Alone at last." He said, claws digging into her jaw.

Rirī cried out in pain and her hand tightened on her sword and she managed to decapitate him. The other four demons saw this, roaring in rage, running back towards her. She tried once again to rise to her feet, but screamed in pain and fell onto her knees again. As the demons ran up, they laughed at her failed attempt. They were about to attack when a flash of silver zipped in front of Rirī, stopping the demons with one slash from his rose whip.

"Rirī, these demons are far below my skill, you should have been able to defeat them easily." Youko scolded, turning his whip back into a rose again.

The strong scent of blood hit him and he whirled around, gasping at the severity of her wounds. Rirī gave him a weak smile.

"Little things add up." She said, panting.

Youko knelt next to her, a hand coming to her face in comfort; avoiding the gashes where the demon's claws had pierced her skin.

"Rirī, I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"It's not your fault. I don't blame you at all. I blame this town for my wounds, and never want to see it again." She said and she went to try to stand again but Youko stopped her.

"Don't move, you've lost too much blood." He said. "I saw how many demons there were. I hope you and Tataraba fared well against them."

"Tataraba stopped fighting as soon as I arrived to aid them, locking me out and letting me fight alone." Rirī said, her voice angry.

Youko's eyes narrowed.

"You killed all of these demons alone? No wonder you look like Hell Rirī, you should be dead!" He exclaimed, his voice angry, but there was sadness there as well that made  
Rirī's heart ache.

"I tried to help you too." She said.

Youko looked at her worriedly.

"You mean that huge blast of Energy that saved my life? You produced that?" He asked.

She nodded and fell forward due to dizziness and blood loss, Youko quickly catching her and holding her close.

"Damn you, Rirī. Didn't you realize that saving me meant you could've died?" He asked softly.

"Yes. But you saved my life once, and I want you to live Youko." She said.

Finally, she dropped from exhaustion and fainted. Youko held her tight and picked her up, carrying her away from Tataraba.


	27. Chapter 27

Youko ignored the cheers of Tataraba as he carried Rirī away. They had no right to cheer, to rejoice, or even breathe. Not after what they had done. He wanted to get her out of there as soon as possible, but Tataraba had other plans. The gates to the town opened and Mazaki walked out to Youko and Rirī, accompanied by a guard of gunmen.

"Where do you think you're going, demon?" She demanded.

Youko stopped and turned, glaring at the town elder.

"As far from this town as I can get." He said, his voice malevolent.

"I'll make no objection to that, however, Kasai made a deal with me and will have to stay." Mazaki said.

"Any deal she had made with you was broken from what I can see. You cannot make any claim to her after locking her out of your town and leaving her to die." Youko said, then turned to leave but stopped when he heard rifles being aimed at him.

Mazaki chuckled.

"In that case, neither of you will leave." She said. "She promised me that she would be the slave of this town for the rest of her life. If she backs out of our deal, she dies."

"You cease fire as soon as Kasai shows up and now that I am taking her away to keep her from bleeding to death, you have a whole army ready to shoot us both. You humans sicken me." Youko growled.

"If we're so repulsive, kill us all. But you'll have to start with that whore you got there." Mazaki said.

When she saw his arms around Rirī tighten protectively, she let out a laugh.

"You can't can you? Even animals like you have honor! Now bring her here like a good boy or I'll give the order to shoot." She said.

"Again, you risk her life for her. You told me you all were going to risk your lives to protect this town. But you only risked Kasai's and watched behind the safety of your walls as she fought for her life, my life, and the lives of this town. And now you would kill her for it just to stop me?" Youko asked, his voice sounding angry and horrified.

"She is not of this town or this country. Why should we care if she dies? No one pities a slave and that's all she is and all she'll ever be. She even _agreed_ to be my slave just for a chance to help _you_. I have a right to kill her if I want to." Mazaki said.

Youko growled and set Rirī down on the ground, his cloths red from her blood.

"Then I will take your life, and you may repent for your sins in Hell." He said.

He flicked a seed at them and it sprang to life, growing into a huge plant with teeth and many mouths. Mazaki and her gunmen screamed, fleeing back to Tataraba. Youko picked up Rirī again and smirked as his plant successfully attacked Tataraba with ease.

"I'll leave you two alone." He said, and then he walked away.

He could have ran, but he too had lost a lot of Energy during last night's battle. He still couldn't understand why they made Rirī fight alone, or why Rirī made a deal with Mazaki to make her a slave in order to help him. It was enough to make him livid, but the reasons weren't just.

'_Humans don't just do that, do they?'_ He wondered.

He also wondered about Yomi. The mastermind hadn't shown himself at all and it worried Youko. Rirī stirred a bit in his arms and whimpered in her sleep. He was worried for his injured friend.

'_Why does she continue to help me, and why do I allow it? What if I can't save her? What will I do then? She's the closest thing I have to a friend since I met Kuronue. I can't lose her, I refuse to. My heart wouldn't be able to take it. I can't just bandage her up this time. I will heal her completely. After all, it's the least I can do.' _He thought.

He held his friend closer, trying his best to comfort her, though she was unconscious. He continued to walk away, even as Tataraba burst into flames.


	28. Chapter 28

Rirī woke sometime in the middle of the night to excruciating pain. Her arms, face, hips, side, everything screamed all at once and she bit her lip so not to cry. She couldn't see where she was because she was blinded by pain; her vision red and it hurt her to breathe.

Youko worked carefully, ignoring the whimpers and cries of his friend as he healed her. He finally finished at dawn, and Rirī had fainted long before then.

He set up a safe camp near a mountain stream. Food would be easy to find here, being all animals in the area came here for their water. He washed the blood from his cloths and bathed. Because Youko respected Rirī he decided to let her bathe and wash her clothes when she woke. After drying off and dressing again, he decided to get some rest. After all, he had been awake for four whole days straight.

He looked Rirī over to be sure she was alright before laying down nearby and falling asleep; ears catching every sound the forest made.

Two hours later, Rirī finally began to wake. She thought she was dead because she wasn't in pain anymore.

'_But how…?' _

Her eyes caught on the sleeping fox demon and she smiled gratefully. She decided to go to the stream that she heard just out of sight to bathe and clean her clothes.

She sat there a good while simply washing all the blood from her clothes. After that she untied the ribbon that held up what was left of her ponytail. Rirī wrapped the ribbon around her wrist and combed through her tangled hair with her fingers best she could. After giving up hope of ever detangling her hair, she swam about in the icy, slow, mountain stream current.

It had been thirty minutes before she heard voices moving upstream towards her. With no time to dart to her clothes, Rirī hid behind a few boulders.

"I'm telling you brother, I just saw the goddess of the mountain!" a young man's voice said.

"You shouldn't believe in crap like that Rao. Makes you see things." An older man's voice replied. "And look! Clothes! Your 'mountain goddess' must be a bathing maiden."

"A maiden out here? Is that possible?"

"More likely than your 'goddess' garbage."

"Hey brother, do you think we should find her?" Rao asked.

"Naturally, I'd like to look for a possibly naked woman, but we are running late enough as it is." His brother replied.

"All because you wanted to go through the mountains as a short cut." Rao grumbled.

Soon their voices disappeared as they walked away and Rirī heard them laughing from afar. Waiting a moment and looking around like a deer would, she swam back to her clothes.

She put on her pants and chest wrappings and reached for her shirt to discover that it wasn't there.

'_Those lechers….'_ She thought.

She picked up her sword and ran after them but a voice stopped her.

"Rirī where are you going? And dressed like that?" Youko asked,

She flushed in embarrassment and anger.

"Some travelers took my shirt." She said quickly.

"So that's what that horrible stench was." He said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Rirī demanded.

"I'm afraid they burned your shirt Rirī. That is definitely the scent of burning cloth." He said.

With an annoyed groan, she wrung the water from her hair out roughly.

"Damn it. Why would they do something like that?" She mumbled.

"You can take my shirt until we can buy you a new one." Youko said, slipping his shirt over her shoulders.

Rirī turned around, mouth open in protest but Youko held up a hand to stop her.

"Just wear it. I don't want to travel through japan with a woman who doesn't wear a shirt." He said, looking away.

Rirī nodded and fixed the shirt so that it fit her better and covered everything. She looked up and saw how he faced away from her.

"Are you decent now?" He asked impatiently.

She smiled, touched by his respect.

"Yes." She said.

He looked to her and smiled.

"I think my shirt looks better on you Rirī." He said, a small laugh escaping him.

She rolled her eyes, giving him a smile in return.

"Hardly, Youko, white doesn't suit me at all." She said.

"Yes it does. All you need is-" He cut himself off, growing a plant in the palm of his hand. He turned away before she could glimpse what it was. Suddenly he turned around again, placing a crown of daises on her head.

"There! Now you look perfect!" he said, beaming.

Rirī laughed.

"This is silly Youko." She said with a laugh, taking the crown from her head to admire the beautiful flowers.

"You think my present is silly?" Youko asked, pretending to sound hurt.

"No, your present is lovely. You are acting silly, my friend." She replied, putting the crown back on her head, smiling happily.

"I am a fox. We have a tendency to be playful." He said.

She smiled at him, and then more somber thoughts came to mind. She lifted up her now healed left arm and moved her fingers slightly. Youko's smile faded and he looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Thank you for healing me, Youko. It means a lot to me." She said, looking up at him with a smile.

"Thank you for helping me even though everyone told you not to. That meant a lot to me." He said, returning her smile.

"Youko, I didn't know you traveled with brothel women."

Both looked up to see Kuronue perched in a tree above them, looking down at them.

"Kuronue, good to see you again" Youko said, ignoring his remark.

Rirī remained silent, glaring at the bat demon.

"Good to see you too. I can't believe you took out an entire town. I know Yomi is getting powerful and all but damn." Kuronue said.

"A whole town? What does he mean?" Rirī asked Youko.

"It's nothing." He said, glaring at Kuronue but the bat continued.

"Tataraba, its completely wiped off the map! Youko used his plants and now the whole things' gone." He said.

Rirī gasped, feeling tears well up in her eyes but she bit them back.

"I looked through the rubble. You sure did a good job Youko, everyone is dead." He continued.

"That's enough Kuronue." Youko growled.

Rirī glared at the fox, flung off his shirt and flowers, and began to walk away.

"Rirī wait, let me explain." Youko said, walking after her.

"Why did you kill them?" She demanded, turning around and glaring at him with fierce teary eyes.

"Those vile humans wouldn't allow you leave from the town. They said you were their slave and were going to kill us both." He said.

"I know you are wise Youko. I know you could have found a way to get out of there without killing an entire town. If we humans are so vile, you should've left me there to die with them." She said, tears finally breaking free.

Youko's eyes narrowed and he grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him. Rirī braced herself for a blow, but found herself wrapped tightly in his arms.

"I'm sorry Rirī. I didn't mean to hurt you in doing that. I did it to protect you." He said softly into her hair, his voice quiet and sad.

"Why do you protect me? You don't owe me anything." She said.

She felt his arms around her tighten.

"I care for her very much Rirī." He said softly, as if it were a secret.

She hugged him back.

"You are my dearest friend. You're not a power-lusting demon and you're not vile and cruel like the other humans, not hate me because I am a demon, you see me for who I am." He said.

"I'm sorry for being angry. Had I been in your place, I would have killed them too. They deserved such a fate, I think, for being as cowardly as they did." Rirī said.

"Great, glad you two made up. Now, can she put that shirt back on?" Kuronue grumbled.

Rirī turned bright red, realizing she had completely forgotten taking Youko's shirt off in her anger.

'_And here I am, in an embrace with him and neither of us are wearing a shirt! Thank goodness for my chest bindings or I'd die of embarrassment!'_ She thought.

The soft cloth of Youko's shirt was placed over her shoulders and Youko pulled away.

"I'll let you put it on." He said, and she could've sworn his cheeks were slightly pink.


	29. Chapter 29

"So what brings you here Kuronue?" Youko asked as they walked towards Tokyo.

"Just making sure you're staying out of trouble, but from what can see, you've had more than your fair share." The bat demon replied.

"Naturally, we have Yomi hunting us and things will get worse soon. After Rirī killed his entire army, he'll be very angry and come for us full force." Youko said.

"Wait, you mean that little girl killed an entire army of demons?" Kuronue exclaimed, pointing a finger to Rirī, who walked quietly on the other side of Youko.

"Yes, she is quite the wonder isn't she?" Youko said with a smile.

"Hey, I think I can see a town." Rirī said, squinting and looking ahead, pointing down the road.

"It can't be, we haven't been walking long enough." Kuronue said.

"I see some lights and I think that's a building. Could it be an inn?" She asked.

A woman suddenly appeared between Youko and Rirī, holding onto Youko's arm.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've seen you, Kurama." She said sweetly.

"Always nice to see you Akio." Youko said to her with a smile.

The beautiful female fox demon grinned, looking over to Kuronue.

"Both of you here? This must be my lucky day. I hardly get any non-human visitors." She said.

Kuronue huffed.

"Any human in their right mind wouldn't come here. You magic is nothing but witchcraft to them and with western influence it's even worse now than before." He said.

"Bitter as always, Kuronue. Kurama, who is this? I didn't know you kept slaves." Akio said, looking intently at Rirī with bright green eyes.

"Kasai is not a slave, Akio, she is my friend." Youko said.

"Kasai? You mean the human wanted dead or alive for murder?" Akio asked, cocking her head to the side, showing off her auburn fox ears.

"Now were traveling with an outlaw. You sure have great taste in friends, Kurama." Kuronue grumbled.

"She's an outlaw because of me." Youko said, giving the bat a glare.

"So being a town inn is out of the question, why don't you all stay with me for a while?" Akio offered, kindly.

"Thank you Akio. That's really nice of you." Youko said, going to follow the demoness, but Kuronue let out a grunt of displeasure.

"Stay in a witch's home? I'll pass." He said, and then vanished.

Youko chuckled softly.

"He always throws a fit when things don't go his way. Kasai, you'll come with us, right?" He asked Rirī as he stood next to the vixen.

Akio's eyes told Rirī to say no, however, she was determined to stay with her friend. Nodding, she went to follow them.

"Certainly! Maybe she can help us form some sort of strategy." She said, walking on the other side of Youko.

The other woman glared at her, but sighed and led the way to her home cheerfully.

"I've improved my garden since you've been gone Kurama. I have more flowers than the florist in Tokyo!" Akio said with childlike enthusiasm.

"You're doing that well?" He asked, his voice pleasant and full of pride.

"Yes! I've been working very hard. In fact, I have dinner cooking as we speak!" She said.

She turned and ran further ahead.

"Hey, were almost there! Stop being an old geezer Kurama! Let's go!" Akio said.

"What does she mean?" Rirī asked Youko.

"She wants me to race her." He replied.

"Then why don't you?" she asked.

He looked to her as if startled by her question.

"I can't leave you behind." He said.

Rirī laughed.

"Go on ahead. I'll be okay walking alone. Besides, if you don't go, the poor girl might be heartbroken." She said pointing to the excited vixen.

Youko chuckled.

"Very well…" He said, then suddenly both fox demons vanished from her sight.

"That was a dumb move."

Rirī looked up and saw Kuronue perched in a tree, looking after Youko and Akio.

"How?" Rirī asked.

"You don't know where she lives." He said.

"I did say I saw lights earlier. It's bound to be her house right?" She asked.

"Humans are so dumb. If two kitsune races like these two are right now, her house is ten miles away at least." He said casually.

"T-Ten miles?" She cried.

"Oh don't fuss. I had a feeling they would end up ditching you so I staid. I'll fly you over." He said

"Really? That's really nice of you, Kuronue. Thank you." Rirī said.

The bat demon flew over, hovering over her and taking hold of her wrists.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't think this makes us friends or anything. I still hate humans, especially you." He said, taking off and flying over the forest.

Rirī smiled.

"Of course."

**A/N: Hello my dears! Anyone else skeptical about Akio? I know I am. By they way, I keep forgetting to write disclaimers but as you can tell, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters. There I dideded it!  
My Prom is coming up and I am very excited! I, like lots of girls my age, have looked forward to this moment in life for so long and it's this Saturday. 3  
Wish me luck my lovelies!**

**-Galinia**


	30. Chapter 30

Rirī suddenly decided she needed to learn how to fly.

The way the world went by as Kuronue flew her to Akio's home was amazing. She loved the way it made her entire being afraid and excited all at once. She felt her arms would rip out of their sockets the way Kuronue was carrying her, but she wasn't in the mood to complain, not when the world was at her feet.

As they flew, below she saw Youko and Akio racing, Youko half a mile ahead. He looked up and saw her with Kuronue, giving them a smile. He didn't pay attention to where he was going and tripped over a fallen tree. Akio laughed and passed him.

"That's what you get for getting distracted!" She taunted.

Youko was on his feet and quickly caught up to her.

"This is a fox demon race? It's amazing!" Rirī said, truly awed by their speed.

"This is how female fox demons attract mates. Normally, races and playful fights win a male over easily." Kuronue explained.

"That makes sense." Rirī said, though she felt saddened in learning this.

They were small, but she had feelings for Youko; feelings a friend shouldn't have. But she remained smiling. She had no claim to the 1000 year old fox demon, and he seemed very happy with Akio. Soon, a small cottage came into view.

"There's the witches layer." Kuronue said, causing Rirī to laugh.

"Is she that bad?" She asked.

"Youko and I have known her for a while. She's been trying to get him to be her mate for 300 years now. Her little game today was another attempt, but Youko doesn't go for that sort of thing. He also doesn't go for shaman." He said.

"She's a shaman?" Rirī asked.

"Yeah, she uses some foreign dark magic. She controls a Spirit's body and soul against their will to do her bidding. That sort of thing pisses Youko off and I personally find it pretty creepy." Kuronue said.

"I find it quite repulsive as well." She said.

"Try to keep on your guard. She likes to kill powerful humans for their souls and bodies." He said.

Soon he landed, beating Youko and Akio to the house.

"Thanks for the warning," Rirī said. "And the lift."

"Stop with the 'thank you's human. I'm not your friend; I did it as a favor to Youko." He said, and then flew off.

Rirī smiled after him then waited for the fox demons to arrive. She didn't have to wait long, however. Youko was standing beside her suddenly and Akio bounded sloppily into view, panting as she approached them.

"Impressive. You managed to keep up with me more than half the race. Some one's been practicing." Youko praised.

Akio snorted.

"Obviously not enough. How you manage to beat me every time without fail, and so effortlessly, I'll never understand." She said.

"Maybe I'm not such a slow geezer after all." He said with a playful smirk, making Akio growl.

"Well enough of that. How about some dinner? Your human looks starved." Akio said, looking Rirī up and down distastefully.

"You're observant." Rirī said with a shy smile.

Akio returned her a halfhearted smile, rolling her eyes and looking sweetly to Youko.

"Well let's go; I don't have food out here." She said cheerily, walking passed them and opening the door to her home.

Youko let Rirī go in first and closed the door behind them. Rirī stood, looking around the room with wonder and fear. Human bones of every type hung from the ceiling and the balcony of the second floor. Jars of organs lined many shelves, as well as books with strange writing Rirī couldn't read. The fireplace on the other side of the room was huge, a fire equally as big boiling a liquid in a large caldron.

Rirī's stomach churned as she saw a jar of human flash in what appeared to be a pantry.

"Kasai, are you okay?" Youko asked, a hand resting on her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said.

'_Now I know what Kuronue meant when he said he and Youko were disgusted by this. I'm disgusted on a number of levels. At least I can trust him to tell the truth.'_ She thought.

"Do you like my newest additions, Kurama? I caught them within a few weeks. It was such a clever trap too; would you like to hear it?" Akio asked, her voice a purr.

"Not particularly." Youko said, sounding very discontent.

The vixen sighed and stirred the boiling liquid in the caldron.

"Very well, you've never been much of a person for stories anyway." She said, pouring some of the liquid into a bowl and giving it to Kurama.

"Go ahead and sit down. You can push anything I have on the table onto the floor." She said.

Youko nodded, leading Rirī over to the fox's table and with one stroke of his arm sent everything on top of it onto the floor. He had Rirī sit down first before taking a seat next to her. Akio set a bowl of hot liquid in front of her.

"What is this?" Rirī asked curiously.

Akio gave her a glare.

"Its food stupid, eat it." She answered.

"Your cooking has improved." Youko said after eating some off his- Soup?

Rirī took a sip and bit her lip, forcing herself to swallow and not gag.

'_Improved? This is improved? Damn, what did her cooking used to taste like?'_ she thought.

"Really?" Akio asked happily.

"Yes, but you may need to consider using less dirt. You do clean your vegetables before putting them in right?" Youko asked.

"Well, no. I thought since the soil was nutritious for the plants it would be for us as well." Akio said.

Rirī took another sip and tried not to show her discomfort.

'She's not bright when it comes to cooking, that's for certain.' She thought.

"Now Akio, we discussed this. You always wash your vegetables before cooking with them." Youko scolded playfully.

The auburn fox demon glared at him.

"It's one thing to mock my athletics, but my cooking too? Kurama you're cruel." Akio said.

"After tasting this soup, I believe you are the cruel one, Akio." He said, his tone slightly serious.

"You've spent too much time with Kuronue; you've become so rude." She said, her voice sad.

"And you spend too much time skinning humans and enslaving their souls. Keep this up and your own soul will become dark." He said.

"Like I care about that, Kurama. I've already told you that this is my passion. Using the dead as my puppet army is the only skill I have. I can't use demon souls because their souls are too dark and stubborn. But human souls are equally dark and best of all, submissive. Even humans who are strong warriors fall easily to my power. And here you sit, telling me to stop because my soul could be darkened. You know nothing Kurama." Akio said.

"He's just trying to help you and warn you of the dangers of the path you are taking. Even if you won't heed his warning, you shouldn't be angry with him." Rirī said.

The female fox demon looked at her and growled.

"So, you all are going to insult me in my own home? Such indecency!" Akio cried, and then stormed out of the house.

Rirī stayed silent for a moment and looked after Akio, uncertain how to react. Youko huffed and pushed his bowl away angrily.

"She never listens. I've been trying to stop her for years. Every time I see her, her aura gets darker. I fear it may consume her and she will be unable to escape it, even if she wanted to." He said.

Rirī looked up at him then down at her 'soup', unsure what to say.

"You don't have to eat that Rirī." He said, a small laugh in his voice.

She looked up with a relieved smile.

"That's a relief; I don't think my stomach could handle all this mud." She said, giving a small laugh of her own.

He smiled at her kindly.

"Is she really angry?" Rirī asked curiously.

"She'll be gone most of the night in hopes of worrying me. She'll probably bring back another human to make into a puppet just to spite me." He said, giving a fake laugh.

He was looking into his 'soup', his brows furrowed and his mouth in a tight line. She reached over and put a hand on his arm in comfort, unsure what else to do. He looked up to her and she gave him a small, caring smile. He smiled back, seeming to understand her gesture's meaning and put his hand over hers.

"Thank you Rirī." He said.

"You've been there for me. I want to do the same." She said, her voice sincere.

He smiled, chuckling to himself.

"Strange indeed." He said.

Rirī gave him a sour look.

"That again? Why do you always say that?" She asked.

"Are you sure you're human, Rirī? I know you're not a demon; you're too kind to be. But at the same time, you can't be human. Humans aren't as wonderfully complex and intelligent as you, and certainly do not bear such honor as you carry." He said.

"What else would I be?" Rirī asked.

He laughed.

"An angel maybe? It would make sense that the one person in the world I get along with would be my exact opposite." He said, looking up at the ceiling.

Rirī chuckled.

"I assure you, I'm not any kind of angel. I'm just a human." She said.

"No, just human isn't what you are. You're special." He declared.

"Not all humans are bad. I've met the most wonderful people on my travels. You should meet them; you'd like them a lot more than me." Rirī said, sounding excited at the idea of Youko changing his opinion about humans.

He looked at her and gave her a doubtful smile.

"Rirī, you could introduce me to every good-natured human in all of the Three Realms, but I know for a fact that I will never like another human as much as I like you." He said.

"Why?" She asked, confused.

"Because you are Rirī, my best friend, and they'll never be anything compared to you." He said.

She smiled and shook her head.

"I've realized something Youko." She said.

"What?"

"You're the strange one, not me." She said.

Youko stared at her a moment and then let out a hearty laugh.

-End of Part Three

**A/N: End of Part Three! I think that this took longer than it should have to be put up but don't worry, once summer hits, I'll update much more! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; I look forward to getting your feedback. **


	31. Chapter 31

Akio didn't come back that night and Rirī was woken up by Youko, informing her she had fallen asleep at the table and to take the guest bed up stairs.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes; she meant for us to have it anyway. You need to sleep, so don't argue." He said, still sitting at the table, looking at the door.

Akio's plan was working; Youko was worried about her and wasn't going to sleep a wink until she returned. Rirī could've felt jealous, but she merely felt bad for Youko. He was being manipulated by Akio because of his kindness.

'_Kindness? Ask me if I thought Youko Kurama was kind a month ago and I would have thought you were insane for suggesting that arrogant bastard had any good in him at all.'_ She thought as she lay down in the guest bed.

She fell asleep soon after her head hit the pillow. Her slumber didn't last long, however; dreams of her former enslavement having woke her up. She decided to go back down stairs.

The fire in the fireplace had died and the sky outside was a light blue, signaling dawn had arrived. Youko was asleep, head on the table over his folded arms. Rirī smiled and went back up to the bedroom, bringing a blanket down and placing it over Youko's still bare shoulders. He stirred a bit and opened his eyes.

"Rirī?" He asked sleepily.

"Go back to sleep, Youko. I'll keep watch for you." She said kindly.

He smiled and closed his eyes again, asleep instantly. She smiled, brushing the bangs from his face and sat back in the seat she sat the night before, facing the door. However she grew bored quickly and realized how cold it was in the house without the fire going. She went to the wood pile and put a few logs in the fireplace, beginning to reheat the coals and starting the fire again.

The birds outside began to sing morning songs in their jubilant voices and Rirī began to cook some food, finding that since she didn't eat anything last night that she was starving. She found some grains of rice and water and began to cook it. She smiled at her handiwork and took out her bag of tea leaves. She selected a few and after a while had her special blend of tea made. Rirī heard footsteps coming to the door as she was putting the food on the table.

Akio opened the door, a human body slung over her shoulder. She glared at Youko's sleeping form.

"Good, you're back. You're just in time for breakfast." Rirī said kindly, trying to keep Akio from waking Youko.

The fox demon woman dropped the dead human in front of the open door and stalked to Rirī, her claws at her throat, but Rirī didn't flinch.

"You know I can kill you right now, don't you?" I can smell your fear." Akio said lowly.

"That smell would be the rice. As for you killing me, you'd have better luck making a better bowl of soup." Rirī said indifferently.

Akio's eyes blazed in hate.

"What did you say human?" She demanded.

She moved to rip out Rirī's throat but the swordswoman ducked and kicked the fox's legs out from under her and stood up straight again, looking down on her.

"Kurama was right, you do need more practice. I didn't even use an advanced move." She said thoughtfully.

Akio snarled and jumped up, slashing her claws across Rirī's face.

"There, much better. I never liked that pretty face of yours." She said.

Rirī didn't flinch at the pain, but stared at Akio.

"You couldn't do much better than that, could you?" She asked.

Akio growled.

"You always had a smart mouth, didn't you? Maybe I'll just cut out that damn tongue of yours! She hissed, lunging forward with her claws.

Rirī dodged again, this time by stepping aside and grabbing her wrist, twisting it behind her back like she had to Nevaeh. Akio squirmed and yelped loudly in pain, causing Youko to wake up. He was shocked by the scene before him and gave Rirī a careful glance.

"She threw the first punch." Rirī said, sounding like a young boy who had been caught in a fight.

"Akio, this needs to stop. You can't kill everyone who pisses you off." Youko grumbled.

Akio squirmed and growled.

"Let me go you tramp." She ordered.

Rirī let her go, ducking as the fox demon slashed at her again. Youko grabbed Akio's arm.

"Enough, you already scratched her face up." He told her, looking at the three gashes that went from Rirī's right cheek and over the bridge of her nose.

"Youko, brought a new pet home do you want to see?" Akio asked.

"Not particularly. I think I'll eat then continue to sleep upstairs." He said.

Rirī, realizing she was supposed to be setting the table, quickly went back to doing so. Soon three bowls of rice and three cups of tea were on the table. Everyone sat down, some more reluctant than others, and they began their meal in silence.

"What are your plans for today?" Youko asked the two, trying to get a conversation going.

Rirī opened her mouth to speak but Akio practically jumped in front of Youko.

"I am going to start building my Ultimate Warrior! I have all the parts for it now!" She said.

"Ultimate Warrior?" Youko and Rirī asked together.

"It's a warrior made up of the strongest parts of humans and their souls. I'm going to use it to help you defeat Yomi and then to take over Japan." She said proudly.

Rirī, now realizing what all the human parts around the house were for, pushed the rest of her rice away and concentrated on no vomiting. Youko shook his head in disapproval.

"We don't need the help of your magic, Akio. Use you energy and help us that way. You have the same powers as I do, just underdeveloped. I can train you. Don't use your 'Ultimate Warrior'." He said

Akio pouted.

"You'll never win without the help of my Ultimate Warrior. They'll never see it coming!" She said excitedly.

"Yomi isn't a fool. He knows that you are a dark shaman and your fighting is lacking. He'll prepare his men for something like your 'Ultimate Warrior'." Youko said.

"Not if I get a more powerful soul. Once I get this soul, not even the Kami will be able to stop me!" Akio said.

"Another soul? Don't you have enough?" Youko asked.

Rirī stared into her cup of tea, trying to keep what little rice she had eaten down. Sure, she killed a lot in her time. But what this woman does is repulsive.

"Not yet. I need her soul to make it complete. Once finished, my warrior and I will fight for you." Akio said.

"'Her'? You don't generally go for a woman's soul." Youko said, but he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Yes. Kasai has one of the most powerful souls I've ever seen. Once I use it for my warrior, it will be invincible." She said proudly.

The words of Akio took a moment to register in Rirī's head, but once they did, she felt bile rise in her throat. Youko was suddenly between Rirī and Akio, slamming the fox demon into the nearest wall. He snarled loudly.

"If you touch her, I swear I will show you pain." He growled.

Akio growled at him.

"How do you expect to beat Yomi without of my help?" She demanded.

"Originally, we never sought your aid. I can defeat Yomi without your magic. I refuse to risk Kasai's life." Youko said.

"You care for humans now Kurama? That's disgusting; more so than what I do." Akio said, sounding repulsed.

"No, I do not care for humans." Youko snarled.

"Then what's the problem? Why can't I have her? Is she some sort of pet or a snack for later?" Akio demanded.

Youko growled, making Rirī's hair stand on end and she rested her head on the table, arms hugging her torso as she rode waves of nausea.

"Kasai is my friend. Don't forget that, Akio. That's why you can't have her. She's mine." He growled with a thief's possessiveness.

"Let me at least have half of her soul, Kurama. That would be more than enough. Maybe her flesh or her heart?" Akio asked.

That did it.

At that, Rirī covered her mouth and darted from the house and to the edge of the woods before vomiting what little contents her stomach had possessed.

'_That's disgusting! My flesh? My heart? Damn, what is wrong with this woman?'_ She thought.

An image of Akio scrapping Rirī's flesh off and into one of her jars caused her to vomit again. She ignored Youko's roar and Akio's roar of an answer. The air was cold, adding to her dizziness and caused her to sway. Rirī walked away from her puddle of vomit and over to a tree and lay down under it on her side.

Her body was shaking hard from lack of sleep and from the former conversation, and now the cold. She sighed and tried to relax her muscles and get them to stop shaking. Instead, it only made them hurt and she sighed in frustration.

She didn't know she had fallen asleep until a bird's cry woke her. She groaned in irritation and went back to dozing and then finally fell asleep.


	32. Chapter 32

Youko stormed out of Akio's house completely livid. He wasn't sure if it was because of Akio, or himself. Though the Younger fox demon had no right to ask to take Rirī's soul, he should've known she was going to try to get Rirī, but a part of him wanted to believe that Akio could change, or would at least know better. Rirī running away, out of fear or disgust, was painful for him to watch. He had never seen her run from something before, and he felt horrible for bringing her here in the first place.

The scent of human vomit attacked his sensitive nose and he growled, growing even angrier. He knew Rirī had a strong stomach; how could she not after all she's been through? He was about to storm off and kill something to channel his anger when he saw her on the ground. Fearing his friend was hurt, he rushed to her quickly and was relived to find she was only asleep.

'_Good, she didn't sleep well last night._' He thought, picking her up and deciding to hold her so she wouldn't freeze.

She stirred a bit and opened her eyes sleepily.

"Are you okay?" She asked, remembering how angry he had been.

He nodded.

"Are you?"

"My tongue feels like its too big for my mouth and my throat hurts." She admitted tiredly.

"I'm sorry, I feel as though this is my fault." He apologized.

She shook her head dizzily and hugged him.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. " She said.

Youko smiled and held her close. He didn't know why this human made him feel so content to have her in his arms. She made him feel like there was a purpose to his existence, and he'd never let someone like Akio take her away from him.

"You need to eat, Rirī. You haven't eaten in two days." He told her.

When she didn't reply he looked down and saw she was asleep again, her head resting on his shoulder, her body draped over his lap, arms still holding him in an embrace. Once again he was overcome with a strange emotion that made his heart melt. He hugged her tighter and rested his head over hers.

"Don't think this gets you out of eating. You are just going to have to eat even more now." He whispered to her.

A tiny unconscious sigh was her answer.

Soon it began to get even colder out and though he didn't want to face Akio, Youko decided to take Rirī inside. He picked her up and carried her into the house. Inside, Akio was boiling dried human flesh and molding the softened pieces onto muscle and bones, attaching them with spells. She looked up and saw Youko carrying Rirī up to the guest room.

"Get your pet out of here, Kurama. The only humans allowed in my house are dead ones." She said

Youko ignored her and shut the door of the room behind him.

Rirī opened her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings.

"You carried me?" She asked.

He nodded, setting her down on the bed.

"Go back to sleep." He said gently.

She shook her head and sat up, surprising Youko.

"You need to sleep. I know you haven't had enough lately." She said.

He was startled by her concern and the fact she had paid attention to such things. He smiled at her.

"I'll be alright." He said.

"Have some sense, Youko. We have the opportunity to rest right now. If you don't sleep, you will be too weak to fight Yomi should he attack tonight or tomorrow. Sleep." She said.

Youko sighed and sat next to her on the bed.

"You need sleep as well." He said.

"Then it's settled. We will both sleep." She said.

Youko's eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Why do you sound confused? Of course I'm sure." Rirī said.

He gestured to the bed they were both sitting on.

"You're not bothered by the fact there is only one bed?" He asked.

"No. We can share, its big enough for two, in case you were getting ideas about sleeping on the floor. Besides, if you touch me in any indecent way, I'll kill you so I have nothing to fear. And as for the shaman downstairs, I know that door squeaks loudly when it's opened and so to the stairs when stepped on, so I have nothing to worry about there so you don't need to stay awake and guard me. I don't see any more problems, so sleep." She said.

He sighed in defeat.

"Very well then, but I will sleep closest to the door." He said.

Rirī nodded and both lay in bed, Youko on the side of the bed closest to the door. He heard Rirī's soft breathing and smiled slightly.

'Should I ever take a wife, it will have to be someone like her.' He thought, for there was no one else who could fill his heart with such happiness by simply breathing.

He looked over to her, her small frame curled up, facing him. She seemed to smile slightly in her sleep.

"Strange indeed." He whispered, brushing her bangs from her face.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

Rirī woke to the world around her shaking violently. She sat up and looked around, noticing Youko doing the same.

"What's going on?" She had to yell over the dull roaring noise.

Youko glared at the door, growling something under his breath Rirī didn't catch and suddenly disappeared from the room. She quickly stood and ran out of the bedroom, trying hard not to fall, due to the shaking ground. She gripped the railing of the balcony and looked down. She saw things falling from shelves and dust and pieces of the ceiling falling as well, signifying it's collapse.

Rirī ran back into the bedroom, grabbed her sword and darted down the stairs and out the front door. Seconds later the house collapsed. Panting, she turned to see the ugliest yet horrifying thing she'd ever seen.

An Ultimate Warrior indeed. The giant's skin was strong and covered in armor. He was taller than the surrounding trees and wore the armor of a red samurai. He turned and his eyes, one green the other blue, were glaring down at her. She gasped, and stepped back when she saw the huge sword he bore made out of sharpened bone.

He started to approach her and she tightened her grip on her sword, ready to draw it at a second's notice. She heard Akio and Youko arguing behind the giant, roaring loudly at each other. Rirī jumped out of the way as the Ultimate Warrior swung his sword at her.

"Enough! Akio, control this thing!" She yelled.

Both kitsune stopped fighting and noticed Rirī predicament. Youko snarled as Rirī dodged again, leaping into a tree.

"Akio, get rid of that thing now!" He yelled.

The female fox demon smirked as she watched the swordswoman dodging her monster's attacks.

"I want to test it." She said.

"If you don't stop it, I will." He snarled.

"Don't interfere. I want to see if I need to improve him." Akio said, ignoring his growling.

Rirī would growl herself. She and Youko had only been asleep for two hours from what she could tell, so she was terribly groggy, not to mention her empty stomach and weak limbs. She was tiring quickly and soon stopped her dodging and unsheathed her sword and blocked its attack. It was strong and pushed Rirī back five feet.

"You're a strong human," It said, using the voices of several men and women, creating an eerie sound. "But you don't stand a chance."

Rirī clenched her teeth and pushed it back.

"At least you have a sense of humor, to humor yourself so much." She said to it.

"What did you say?" It growled.

Rirī smirked.

"You heard me. I could beat you at anything and still have time to sleep." She said.

"That's crazy, girl. You think you can beat me? I am the Ultimate Warrior!" It roared.

"Fine, you and I will race to Tokyo and back. Whoever gets back here first is the better warrior." She said.

Angered, the giant growled.

"I accept your challenge!" It said, and then suddenly it was off running.

Yawning, Rirī sat down and started to doze off, leaving Akio and Youko staring, confused.

"What is she doing?" Akio demanded.

Youko laughed.

"She's tricking him." He said.

Akio glared at him.

"Tricking him? It looks to me like she's losing her 'race'. Humans are such fools!" She said.

At that, Youko laughed a bit harder.

"Then she had tricked you as well." He said.

"Care to elaborate?" Akio growled.

"You will see in time." He said.

Rirī was able to sleep for thirty minutes before Akio's warrior bounded back into the clearing, panting heavily. Arrows were in it's arms, most likely from the people of Tokyo. It looked at Rirī's sitting form, pointed at her and laughed.

"Dumb human, you didn't even move!" It gasped.

Rirī yawned and stood, stretching.

"You're right. I guess that makes you the worst warrior in the world." She said.

"What!? But I beat you!" It yelled.

"Not really, I surpass you in wit, but if you wish to fight me now, then go ahead. If you can beat me, then I will accept my defeat." She said.

The giant grinned and lifted it's sword but found it was too heavy to hold.

"What did you do to me witch?!" It demanded.

"I didn't do anything. You are the one who ran to Tokyo and back." Rirī said.

"It doesn't matter; I can still beat you, even without my sword!" It yelled, throwing the sword aside.

"I guess I should be fair." She said, sheathing her sword and setting it on the ground.

"If you want to die." It said.

Suddenly it bolted forward, but because its body was fatigued, it stumbled, giving Rirī an easy opening. She ran up it's arm and leapt up onto its head.

"Get off of me!" It yelled, arms coming up to hit her away.

She jumped off of it, and onto the ground, dodging as its fist made a crater where she had landed a second ago.

"How is this possible? You've gotten stronger!" It accused.

"In comparison to you I have always been stronger. Only now I am well rested and surpass you in stamina. You spent your energy running to Tokyo." She said, standing on a tree branch.

"You conniving wench! I'll send you to Hell!" It yelled.

It lunged forward and suddenly Rirī was frozen in place.

'_But how?'_

She looked around and saw Akio, using her shaman powers to hold Rirī in place but struggled to do so.

"Move!" Youko yelled, stepping forward just before the giant's fist slammed into Rirī.

The tree she had been standing in was completely obliterated, a large crater formed in its place. Youko stared wide-eyed at the damage, shocked.

'_Why didn't she move?'_ he thought, his body starting to shake.

"Damn human got what she deserved." Akio said.

"Not yet you haven't, unless you're talking about me."

The fox demon turned around with a gasp to see Rirī standing behind her, holding her shoulder and an arm behind her back.

"But how?" Akio whispered.

"You can control dead bodies easily; however a living body is more difficult. Especially mine, because my soul won't allow it. I escaped just before your warrior's hand could connect; he only clipped my shoulder when I dodged. After dodging, I leapt onto his arm, ran up and beheaded him with long knife." Rirī said, pulling the warrior's head from behind her back.

Youko growled at Akio, who gasped and turned, looking to see the warrior's dead body on the ground in front of the crater. She turned back around and laughed her voice happy.

"Marvelous! Congratulations Kasai, you passed the test!" She said.

"What test?" Rirī demanded.

"Now I _must_ have your soul!" Akio said.

Youko moved between them, but a second too late. Rirī's body collapsed, her soul appearing in Akio's hand, the color green.

"What a pretty color; it matches my eyes." She said.

She looked up at Youko, who managed to catch Rirī's body before it hit the ground, trying to get her to wake.

"Don't be a fool, Kurama. I have her soul, that's just a dead body." She said in a sing-song voice.

Youko growled.

"Return her soul to her now." He ordered.

"What? No way! Watch and see my Warrior completed!" Akio said.

She threw the green soul of Rirī into the body of the dead warrior and a bright light blinded them. The warrior stood, its head growing back, and stood two times bigger than it was originally, glowing with a green aura. It turned to face Youko and Akio.

"Isn't it just beautiful? See how gorgeous she makes it? Look at how powerful it is now! She's made him perfect!" Akio exclaimed.

She turned around and saw Youko was still holding Rirī's lifeless body, his eyes hidden by his bangs.

"Now don't cry Kurama. She was just a human; you can find another pet in the next village. There are millions of them." Akio said.

"If you think I am crying, you are mistaken." He said, his voice dark.

Akio was taken aback by his tone but recovered quickly.

"So you don't care she's dead. Good, so you haven't gone soft after all. Demons shouldn't cry for humans." She said.

"Again you are mistaken. I warned you not to do this. Rirī will not be dead for long. I will end your life, for I promised you that death would be yours should you do this. You should've heeded my warning, Akio." He said.

He set Rirī's body down gently as Akio pondered something he had said.

"Rirī?" She asked.

She looked up and saw Youko coming towards her and she whimpered in fear.

"I did it for you so you could defeat Yomi!" She said, hoping that desperate statement would save her.

"I will not forgive you for this." He growled, getting closer.

"Enough of this."

Both kitsune turned around and looked to the Ultimate Warrior who had spoken using Rirī's voice.

"Rirī." Youko said, his voice quiet.

Akio looked between the two and realized who Rirī was.

"Akio, return my soul to my body. If you don't, I will be forced to allow Kurama to attack you" Rirī said.

The female fox demon growled and frowned.

"Fine, I will." She said.

Rirī's body moved ass life returned and she sat up, groaning in pain. She glared up at Akio, who stood grinning as her warrior shrank down even smaller than before. When it's transformation was complete a warrior who looked like Rirī stood, looking at them emotionlessly.

"What have you done?!" Youko yelled.

"I took half of her soul; the dark side that lives to fight without remorse. This is what I wanted." Akio said.

She looked to the Kasai copy and grinned.

"Let's see how she fares against the real thing." She said.

Her eyes rested on Rirī's weak form.

"Kill her."


	33. Chapter 33

Kasai suddenly ran forward, a sword ready to slash into Rirī, but Youko blocked it with one of his plant weapons; his rose whip.

"You'll go through me first!" He barked, standing in front of Rirī protectively.

"Remember Kurama, that's half of her soul. You kill my pet one, you kill Rirī." Akio said.

"I am no fool." He growled, blocking another attack, his whip hitting Kasai in the arm but it was Rirī who had a gash on her arm and hissed in pain.

"I should do this more often; it's terribly entertaining." Akio said with a pleased smile.

"Damn…" Youko said under his breath in hopelessness.

Kasai attacked again, hitting Youko in the arm with her sword. He clenched his teeth in pain and pushed her away but she came back again. Rirī went to her feet dizzily and took a stance she had only taken once before.

"What are you doing, Rirī? You'll kill yourself!" Youko yelled at her.

"Shut up and get out of the way, I know what I'm doing!" She lied.

When he ignored her she knocked his legs out from under him, running past him and at Kasai. The clone swordswoman was surprised to see Rirī running at her head on and waited for her to attack and end up killing herself. Instead Rirī shot a wavelength of green Spirit Energy at Kasai, nailing the woman in the heart, connecting them with green energy.

"What are you doing?" Akio demanded.

"I'm taking my soul back!" Rirī shouted.

It was a battle of wills between the two. While Rirī wanted to be herself again, Kasai enjoyed being her own person and wanted to keep it that way. The wavelength of energy was broken with a flash of light, sending both women flying backwards. Kasai was the first to stand, looking down at Rirī with emotionless eyes.

"Do you think I want to be part of you again when I have the freedom to kill who I please without your emotions getting in the way? I don't think so. You keep your worthless half of our soul and I will go on my way." She said.

Rirī's teeth clenched in anger and pain from landing on her shoulder as she glared up at her other half. Akio laughed at them.

"Even your own soul hates you!" She exclaimed.

Kasai glared at Akio.

"I do not hate her, or Kurama. However, I despise everyone else, for they are incompetent and cruel; they do not deserve to live. In fact, I hate you very much. I have wanted to kill you the moment you showed up between Kurama and myself and I can't let you live for trying to kill me with your magic." She said, walking towards Akio.

"But I gave you your own life! You can do as you please! You owe me!" Akio cried, stumbling back in fear.

"I owe you nothing." Kasai said in a dark voice.

Rirī quickly moved to get to her feet to stop Kasai but she was too late; the clone swordswoman had already beheaded the fox demon shaman.

"No!" She cried, tears coming to her eyes.

Kasai turned around and looked at Rirī, eyes narrowed.

"Do not act like her death pains you. You wanted her dead as badly as I did." She said.

Rirī's teary eyes glared at Kasai.

"It does pain me! I wanted to help her recover from the darkness that she had brought upon herself. I never wanted to kill her!" She yelled.

"That's sounds like something he would say. I think he _did_ say those exact words at one point, didn't you Youko?" Kasai chuckled.

Youko was on his knees, tears in his eyes as he clutched the grass in grief. His angry eyes glared up at the clone.

"Do _not_ say my name." He growled.

Kasai merely gave a chuckle in reply and turned to leave. Rirī moved to her feet and moved to connect them with her energy again.

"You know that won't work, Rirī." Kasai said as if she pitied the swordswoman for trying.

"Yes it will! I cannot allow you to commit such crimes such as this ever again!" Rirī yelled.

Energy shot from her finger tips in a small sparks and spurts but failed to connect with Kasai. Rirī fell to her knees, her energy dead.

"Pity. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some people to get rid of." Kasai said, and then vanished.

Rirī didn't move, too caught up in emotion and grief. She didn't dare look at Youko; she was too scared. Would he blame her? Why should it matter? His friend that he had known for over 200 years was decapitated before his eyes and he was powerless to stop it. She stayed put, trying not to sob, but she did anyway, and once she started she couldn't stop.

'_This is all my fault. I should have killed Kasai when I had the chance. I would've died, but Youko wouldn't have to lose one of his oldest friends. Didn't Kuronue say they were going to be mates or something like that? O heavens, I've ruined everything!'_ She thought.

She stood and grabbed her sword, her body shaking in exhaustion, pain, and grief.

"Where are you going?" Youko's hard voice demanded.

"I'm going to hunt her down and kill her." She whispered.

"Don't be a fool Rirī. If you do that, you'll kill yourself." He growled, an odd tone in his voice.

Rirī had known that, in fact, she counted on it. She figured it would be a way to avenge Akio's death. A life for a life.

"I know." She said even quieter than before.

Suddenly he had her by her shoulders, claws digging into them making her wince as his angry eyes glared down at her.

"Don't you_ dare_ do that me Rirī! Do you understand?" He yelled.

She saw the hurt in his eyes, the tears falling down his cheeks and she wasn't afraid. She reached a hand up and wiped his tears away. He closed his eyes and released her shoulders, turning away from her roughly. Rirī refused to let him leave and wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing her face into his back.

"I'm so sorry, Youko." She whispered, her voice broken by tears.

He removed her arms from around him and she feared he was rejecting her comfort until he turned around and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight.

"This is not your fault, Rirī. Don't blame yourself, please." He said, his lips at her ear.

"Alright." She said, sniffling a bit, and then burying her face into his chest, hiding from what she believed was the truth.

'_This _was_ my entire fault. It's obvious that it is. A part of me wanted Akio and everyone around me dead and Akio brought it out. I can't blame it on someone else this time. It was all me.'_ she thought. _'And here I am, not even thirty minutes later after her death and I'm in her fiancé's arms. Perhaps I am the whore they say I am.'_

"I'm sorry." She whispered again, more tears spilling over.

"Rirī,"

She pulled away and looked up at him to see what he was going to say. His eyes were sad and pleading, tears of his own still there. He bent down and kissed her forehead then hugged her close again.

"Don't go, please." His voice begged.

The urgency and sadness his voice bore broke her. She hugged him back, resting her head against his chest.

"I won't."

Youko and Rirī buried Akio that night in her garden. It wasn't extravagant by any means, but it happened and was enough to give them closure. Afterwards, Rirī looked through the rubble of the house, finding a little rice and a decent pot. She built a fire and cooked while Youko staid in the garden, silent. After finishing the rice she took a bowl to Youko. She found him sitting on a rock and staring at the earth that covered Akio's body.

The sight was unbearable and Rirī felt her heart break at seeing it. She sat on the ground next to him and handed his bowl up to him. He gave a weak smile and took it from her with a quiet "thank you". She nodded and began to pick at her own food.

"I can't believe she would do this." Youko said.

Rirī looked up in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

'_Akio didn't get herself killed on purpose did she?'_ She wondered.

"Had she listened to me, none of this would have happened." He said.

A tear slid down his face and his voice wavered.

"She wrote her fate with her own hand long ago; I was just too naïve to see it. I believed I could change it."

Rirī looked up at him and back down at her bowl of rice, leaned towards him and rested her head on his arm in comfort.

"Don't say that. You're very wise and compassionate; you're not naïve." She told him.

"Demons shouldn't be compassionate. Caring for others is a weakness and I hate weaknesses." He growled firmly.

That stung Rirī's heart as she recalled all the times he had told her he cared for her. Did that mean he hated her or was he just angry?

"It isn't a weakness to care for someone." She said quietly.

Youko gave a snort of disagreement.

"That's what all humans say and that's why they're so weak. They think because they care for someone that their invincible but they're not. They are all weak because they care. That is why the most famous humans are the ones who are cruel and uncompassionate; because they used their lack of compassion to get stronger." He said.

Rirī shrank back and into herself; anger and sorrow swirling inside her.

"I guess that answers my question." She said.

Youko looked down at her.

"What question?" He asked curiously.

"All demons are the same, you included. I was a fool for believing there was good in any of you." She said past the lump of tears in her throat, her voice sounding hurt.

Youko glared at her.

"What made you decide that?" He asked her, his voice dark.

Rirī returned his glare.

"You did. Believing that emotions and compassion are weaknesses proves that you are just like other demons and also how foolish I was." She said, tears in her angry voice.

He loomed over her, glaring at her hard.

"What did you expect, Rirī? I'm a demon; a monster. I'm not a low life human who cries over a dead child." He growled.

"But you cry for those who mean something to you." She said quietly.

She looked up at him and he snarled at her but she didn't recoil.

"When I first met you, I believed you would kill me. But you didn't and after all this time, you've showed me how kind and compassionate you are. You have told me you cared for me but now you say that caring for someone is a weakness and that you hate weaknesses. Now that I know I'm nothing but a weakness to you-" She was cut off by her sobs.

'_Damn, I feel so led on.'_ She thought.

"I never said you were nothing but a weakness to me. Rirī listen to yourself, you are only hearing the bad things I'm saying." Youko said.

"Then what are the good things?" She demanded.

"You are my greatest weakness." He said, the sentence sounding like a confession.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Rirī yelled, glaring at him.

"Then listen!" Youko yelled back.

He softened his tone when he saw her flinch. He didn't want to scare her, only to get his point across. He gave a shaky frustrated sigh.

"You are my greatest weakness Rirī. I care for you so much that anyone wanting to hurt me would only have to take you away from me to defeat me. That's it. I couldn't do anything in fear of losing you. When Akio had taken your soul away and I held your lifeless body in my arms I could feel every fiber of my being scream in pain. You are my greatest weakness Rirī, but that doesn't mean you're just a weakness to me. It means you mean the world to me." He said.

At that, Rirī froze; her heart pounding in her chest loudly and she thought it would break due to his words. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Youko gave a sad smile and knelt on the ground in front of her, wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"I'm sorry." Rirī's muffled voice said.

Youko chuckled.

"Strange indeed." He whispered.

Rirī pushed away from him suddenly and looked up at him.

"I don't understand something. Weren't you and Akio supposed to be mates or something?" She asked.

He gave her a very confused look.

"Who the hell told you that?" He asked, sounding disgusted.

"Kuronue…"

Youko growled.

"Damn that bat. He likes to make a mess of everything…" he muttered.

Rirī gave a laugh.

"Sometimes I wonder if he hates me or just likes to tease me." She said.

Youko sighed gently and wiped the tears from her face gently, a soft look in his eyes.

"What a day." He remarked.

Rirī felt a tightness in her chest at his words.

'_Yes it had been quite a day, no doubt about that. Youko lost one of his friends; I lost half of my soul and almost my life. If Kasai is murdered on the road I will be the one to die.'_ She thought.

She looked up at Youko.

"We have to find her." She said.

"Who?"

"Kasai. What if Yomi finds her?" She asked.

Youko's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth.

"Another vulnerability." He growled.

"Unfortunately." She agreed.

She hung her head down in shame.

"Why do I feel like this is all my fault?" She wondered aloud.

"I don't know. It's clear to me you are not at fault. It was Akio's fault, and though I hate to say it, she got what she deserved." Youko said, his voice sad.

"Don't say that. She didn't deserve to be killed by me. If I could have-"

"Don't you dare say you did this, understood?" He said firmly.

With a sigh she nodded, too emotionally drained to argue with him.

"Good, now let's finish eating this rice before it gets cold." He said.

Rirī nodded and they sat together to eat.

"I need to buy a new shirt so you can have yours back." She said, remembering she still wore the fox demon's white shirt.

"Why? Don't you like me shirtless?" He teased.

She gave him a playful glare.

"Arrogant as ever. I was being considerate, being the weather is going to start getting colder soon." She said.

"It shouldn't. Though autumn is almost here, the weather should stay warm." Youko said.

"Autumn _is_ almost here. Besides, your shirt is too big and doesn't cover my arms. You may be fine without a shirt but I get cold easy. I am a human, remember?" Rirī said.

Youko rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't make excuses, Rirī. You're a wimp when it comes to the cold and you know it." He said playfully.

Rirī looked at him, mouth agape for a few minutes then glared at him.

"I am not!" She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

He laughed heartily at her childish act.

"Are too." He insisted with a laugh.

She pointed her chopsticks at him offensively, as if she were holding knives.

"I will use these." She warned.

Youko laughed at her again.

"We are sitting in a garden, Rirī; waving around threats and 'weapons' isn't very wise of you." He said.

The garden suddenly grew to a monstrous size around them. Rirī gave a squeak of surprise and quickly went back to eating her rice.

"Okay, okay, you win!" She surrendered.

He laughed at her and the garden went back to normal.

"There's a good girl." He said, pinching her cheek.

"O shut up." She grumbled through a mouthful of rice.


	34. Chapter 34

After finishing their rice, Rirī insisted on the first watch, but Youko refused. So she found herself sleeping next to him under a tree in his arms so she wouldn't be cold. She remembered she had seen lovers do such things and wondered if that was what their relationship was but didn't ask; afraid she would look like a fool. Instead she looked at his kind gestures as things a brother would do for a sister. It hurt, but it would keep from hurting their friendship. She fell asleep, only to find her dreams came to haunt her time of rest.

Kasai had betrayed her, turning herself into Yomi and getting them both killed. After she died, her old master was there waiting for her in Hell.

"_There's my pretty girl. I've been waiting for you."_ He said.

"_So have I." _

Rirī turned and saw Akio glaring at her. Rirī ran but Akio stopped her with her shaman powers.

"_I can't control the living. You were right about that. But you're dead now."_ She said.

Rirī could only scream in pain as Akio tortured her and somewhere in the haze of pain, Mrs. Collins joined in too. Ana and Sasuke were there, simply watching her die like they did in Tataraba. Youko woke her up before her master could touch her.

Fear and relief washed over her at once and she began to sob.

"What happened?" Youko asked quietly.

After telling him her dream he held her tight, his arms around her protectively, making her feel safe.

"You won't have to worry about that, Rirī." He told her.

She looked up at him as he spoke.

"You will live a long, happy life and when you do die, King Enma himself will ensure you have a spot in eternal paradise, I'm certain of it."

Rirī smiled at his words, her tears stopping and she hugged him tight.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She fell asleep again and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next day they set off for Tokyo to buy Rirī a new shirt. They didn't bother with breakfast; they wanted out of the area as quick as possible. They walked in silence for a while and it nearly killed Rirī. At least a conversation would distract her from the cold wind that caused goose bumps to form on her arms. She could only imagine what Youko was going through but when she looked up at him she saw he wasn't fazed by the cold wind at all. Soon the silence was too much to bear and Youko began to talk.

"Tokyo is such a nice town. I am glad to be going back to it. Have you ever been?" He asked.

"No, which is quite funny, considering I am a wonderer. I should have been there at least once." She said, laughing a little.

"That is quite humorous. I expected you to at least have been to Tokyo. During my life, I have been all over the world." Youko sighed, a smile on his face as he recalled fond memories.

"All over the world? Truly?" Rirī asked, greatly fascinated.

Youko nodded.

"Yes. It was quite fantastic. It took me 200 years to satisfy my desire to travel. Now that I've done that I want to make a name for myself. I want people to know who I was for centuries to come. I want to be a legend." He said.

"Why? The reputation you are trying to set for yourself isn't a good one; I found out as much when we first met." She said.

He seemed to flinch at that.

"I guess you wouldn't understand that, so let me explain. When it comes to demons and humans, our morals have always been opposite to each other. Many humans want to be remembered for how great they are, how powerful, or kind, or intelligent, etc. Demons are about the same but on a more violent scale. They want to be remembered as cold hearted, merciless killers that bathed in the blood of their enemies and feared by all. Mortal beings in the living and demon world tend to remember things that frighten them more than things that make them happy. I want it to be so that the very mention of my name will have even A Class demons tremble in fear." He said.

"As a thief?" Rirī asked doubtfully.

Youko chuckled, sounding amused.

"I want to be known as the most notorious thief in all three realms. A King of Thieves, if you will. In my travels I heard of a myth about a Prince of Thieves and his story. It is my goal to surpass even his legend." He said.

"'The Tale of Robin Hood.' My father told me of it when I was younger. It was a common story told amongst the peasants of England. So, the King of Thieves? How do you plan on accomplishing this, if you don't mind my asking?" Rirī asked curiously.

"I set up my band of bandits a few years after I returned from my world exploration. Kuronue tagged along because we were friends, but Yomi was my right hand man. Together we took over a good fraction of Demon World and have maintained control over it, according to what Kuronue has told me. We became bandits to gain popularity, as I told you, and soon we had it. We were number one on Demon World's most wanted list and everyone knew of me and my bandits. They know how powerful I am, but it's still not enough. I plan on taking my thieving to the next level. I plan on stealing from Spirit World and King Enma and Prince Koenma. That will make me so legendary, even humans will know of me." He said.

"But Yomi proves to be an obstacle in your path." Rirī stated.

"Yomi has always been an obstacle. He's just making himself even more of a pain in the ass." Kuronue said.

Youko and Rirī looked up to see the bat demon standing in a tree above them.

"Kuronue, there you are. I was wondering when you would end up joining us again." Youko said.

The bat demon jumped down, landing in front of them, ignoring the statement.

"Do you know what that horrid scent is?" He asked.

Rirī gave him a puzzled look and sniffed the air.

"I don't smell anything." She said.

"Naturally, you're a human. Youko, you smell it right? What do you think it is?" Kuronue asked.

Youko sniffed the air as well and cringed.

"Yes, I can smell it and I know this scent. It's burning flesh." He said.

"Burning flesh? Is it human?" Kuronue asked.

"Yes. It smells like a war." Youko said.

"A war?" Rirī asked.

Kuronue growled.

"Humans disgust me." He said.

"That's a hypocritical thing to say." Rirī said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms over her chest.

Youko gave Kuronue a smirk and continued walking. The bat demon rolled his eyes at her and followed after his kitsune friend.

"Demons…" She grumbled.

Both demons turned look at her with defensive looks.

"What did you say?" Kuronue demanded.

"N-nothing!" Rirī said, turning red and quickening her pace.

Youko shook his head and continued walking. Kuronue gave a huff and walked after them grouchily.

"Humans…" He grumbled.

At hearing his grumbling, Rirī laughed slightly.

'_We are like siblings. Youko the older brother, Kuronue the younger brother and I their younger sister. It's comforting, thinking of it like that. I finally have something close to a family.'_ She thought.

Suddenly she caught the most horrible scent she had ever smelled.

"Kuronue," She said.

He looked up at her, his face still in a scowl.

"I smell it now."

After a few more minutes of walking they found it. It was a small village, burning to the ground. A few men and women stood watching their homes burn, the screams of the dying echoing from the burning village. Rirī, Youko, and Kuronue were walking by but Rirī couldn't stand by and do nothing, leaving them like that. She ran up to a couple and tapped the woman's shoulder to get her attention. Both turned around and as soon as they saw her, their eyes blazed with hate.

"You!" The man yelled, grabbing her by her throat.

"What's wrong with you? Put me down." Rirī said calmly, not feeling any pain or suffering any air loss, even as he lifted her higher.

"Put you down? After you burned down my village and killed our families? Go to Hell!" He yelled.

Rirī fell to the ground on her bottom and looked up to see that Youko had knocked the man away from her and stood between them, growling. Kuronue stood next to her as she stood up.

"I assure you I did no such thing." She told the man.

He looked past Youko and glared at her.

"I'm not a fool, bitch; you came through here and killed everyone in the village then burned it down. The only reason we survived was because we were out in the fields and returning for lunch in time to witness the whole thing. It shouldn't surprise me that you came to finish us off with the help of demons." He said, spitting at Rirī's feet.

Youko growled again.

"She's been with me in the mountains for the last few weeks. There is no way she could've done this." He told them.

"Why should we believe a bunch of demons?" the man's wife yelled.

Youko growled and suddenly the man and his wife were seized by vines. Rirī quickly ran forward and grabbed Youko's arm, which was the host the vines were coming from.

"No, don't!" She cried, knowing what he was going to do with those plants.

He glanced at her for a moment then at the human couple, screaming in the coils of his plants. He released them, the plants returning to him and he growled at them and they cowered back from their place on the ground.

"What pathetic cowards." He said in disgust.

He turned to Rirī.

"Let's go." He told her, then walked passed her.

Rirī met the frightened eyes of the couple, bowed her head to them, and followed after Youko and Kuronue.

"Did I miss something?" Kuronue asked, sounding angry and confused.

"Akio cut my soul in half, and the other half is a darker version of me. It killed Akio and apparently it's now rampaging all over Japan." Rirī said.

"Well, I didn't see that coming. Thought if anything, Akio would end up killing you but not a soul split." The bat remarked.

"Now wandering is going to get really difficult." She grumbled.

"You were already an outlaw wanted for murder. It's not like you had an honorable reputation anyway." Kuronue said.

"Before I killed Mrs. Collins, no one knew who I was. I liked traveling without the bounty on my head but it appears that my time of peace is over." She said.

Youko continued walking, not speaking and pretending like he was ignoring their conversation.

'_This is my fault; I've ruined her life. I would leave her so that she won't have to bear such a burden as the one I give, but I could never abandon her like that. I'll stay and help her get her soul back, then take my leave.'_

He looked over to Rirī, who chatted with Kuronue, who accidently showed a smiled at her. She laughed at him, the sound filling Youko with a bittersweet feeling.

'_It's the least I can do.'_


	35. Chapter 35

"Finally! I missed you so much!" Rirī exclaimed, opening her arms up to the now hot, bright sun.

Youko laughed at her happiness.

"Were you that cold?" He asked.

Rirī closed her eyes and sighed.

"I love the sun." She said.

"You love everything." Kuronue grumbled.

Rirī ignored him and went forward, smiling despite Kuronue's words. They had finally left the forest and were traveling along the road. There weren't a lot of travelers so they didn't need to worry about running into trouble. As they continued, they passed an inn, where they stopped to eat a meal and then continue on their way.

Rirī couldn't contain her excitement and she wasn't sure what she was excited about. Her entire body began to tremble excitedly and her stomach had a light, happy feeling that felt so weird she began to giggle. Youko turned to her, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I have no idea! I feel so strange all of a sudden!" She managed through her increasing laughter.

"Well stop, it's freaking creepy." Kuronue said, giving her a freaked out look.

"I can't!" She laughed.

'_What's going on? It's as if my emotions are out of balance…'_ She thought.

Youko gasped and she assumed he had discovered the problem.

"Your other half is trying to gain more control of her own emotions. To do that she has to _have_ emotions, and to have emotions she must take them from you." He said.

"What? That doesn't make any damn sense!" Kuronue said.

Rirī laughed, her sides aching and she couldn't breathe.

"Her other half is taking all Kasai's emotions but her happiness." Youko said.

He looked to Rirī, eyes hard in concern.

"Kasai, you have to fight it. Take them back." He urged.

Rirī nodded through her laughter and tried to focus on herself. Blood began to pour down her face from the cuts Akio had given her and her face was reddening from air loss.

"Damn it, stop cackling witch!" Kuronue yelled.

"Quiet Kuronue, she needs to focus!" Youko scolded.

Rirī closed her eyes and in the darkness she saw Kasai. At first she was startled but her determination returned.

'_Give me back my emotions!' _She yelled.

Kasai stared at her blankly.

'_Why?'_

'_Because I'm going to die laughing, that's why, so give them back!_' Rirī ordered.

'_Die laughing? What's wrong with that?' _Kasai asked.

When Rirī glared at her the clone sighed.

'_Fine, I will give them back. But only because I know how sad my Youko will be if you died.' _Then she disappeared.

Rirī felt her body calm, the excitement she had felt before was replaced with fatigue and she felt her lungs eagerly gasp in air, her ribs aching as she did so. She opened her eyes and saw both demons staring at her, concern on both of their faces.

"She gave in." Rirī breathed.

The demons sighed in relief and Kuronue went back to dogging her.

"Well I would hope so. You should at least be able to beat yourself." He said.

Rirī glared at him.

"I'll beat you with one arm tied behind my back!" She challenged.

"Oh really, wench?" Kuronue asked, a grin on his face as he reached for his scythe.

"Really!" Rirī shot back, drawing her sword.

"It's good to see you back to normal, Kasai." Youko said nervously.

She didn't hear him, too wrapped up in sparing with Kuronue. The sounds of their weapons clanging together filled the woods.

"Cocky wench!"

"Stupid bat!"

Youko sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"At least they're getting along… somewhat." He said.

After a while Youko stepped in, stopping them.

"We should get going." He inquired.

"Not until I pound her face in!" Kuronue yelled.

"Idiot, you couldn't pound in the face of a lame lamb!" Rirī yelled at him.

"Enough! We need to get moving!" Youko yelled at them both.

Both stopped, mid punch, and looked at Youko, confused looks on their faces. Sighing, Youko moved passed them.

"Let's go you two." He said firmly.

"Yes Youko." Kuronue and Rirī said in unison then glared at each other.

"Kasai. Kuronue." Youko's voice warned.

Quickly, the two ran after him.

"Hey Youko, when are we going to ditch this wench and go back to Demon World?" Kuronue asked.

Rirī glared at him, but she knew the truth. Of course they would have to go back. She just hoped they would wait until she had died or something.

"Not for a while, Kuronue. I have things to take care of here." Youko said simply.

That lightened Rirī's heart. Maybe in that time she could change Youko's mind about humans and her. Kuronue groaned.

"It's because of her, isn't it?" He asked, pointing his thumb back at Rirī, who was walking behind them.

Youko chuckled.

"Partially." He said.

"Partially? You mean there's more?" Kuronue asked.

"Naturally I can't let Yomi get away with stealing my men." Youko reminded him.

"Oh."

"Are we almost there?" Rirī asked.

"Almost where?" Kuronue demanded.

"Tokyo!" She said.

'_How could he forget?'_

"We're going to Tokyo?" He asked.

Rirī covered her eyes with her hand, as if hiding from the stupidity of the situation.

"Yes, Kuronue, we are going to Tokyo. Where did you think we were going?" She asked.

The bat shrugged.

"I don't know. I thought we were accompanying you on one of your wanderings. I didn't know we were going to Tokyo. Why are we headed there?" He asked.

"I need a new shirt and I'd also like to get some rice so we can eat on the road." Rirī replied.

"That's a good idea Kasai, I didn't think of that." Youko said.

"That's because you're a demon and unlike humans, we don't need to eat every second of the day." Kuronue said.

Rirī glared at him and continued walking.

"You'll have to eat sometime bat, so stop being a jerk." She said.

Kuronue ignored her and they were walking in silence again. Eventually Rirī gave up glaring and began to hum a song from her father's land, losing herself to daydreams. Youko recognized the song, smiling as he recalled his own time in Ireland, while Kuronue glared between the two with an annoyed look. The sun was bright and the air was getting warmer as the afternoon progressed.

Suddenly Youko stopped, listening, Kuronue doing the same. Rirī stopped as well, watching them quietly. When the two looked to each other angrily, she spoke up.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's Yomi. He is headed for Tokyo as well." Youko said.

"Good, we'll meet up with him and exterminate him!" Kuronue said.

"But what about Tokyo? Won't it be destroyed?" Rirī asked.

Both demons looked at her in confusion.

"Think about it. Yomi will have another army, its only logical. If he is headed to Tokyo, all the humans living there will be killed." She explained.

"So?" Kuronue asked.

She turned to him, giving him a hard, angry glare.

"_So _what? They're innocents; they have nothing to do with your bandit disputes. It's our responsibility to ensure that they are kept out of it." She said.

"They're not our concern. If they deserve to live, they'll run or fight. Otherwise, they deserve to die." Kuronue said coolly.

Rirī felt her blood boil.

"Why should we keep Tokyo out of it Kasai? The human government there is corrupt anyway. A disaster such as the one that may occur may help them realize that." Youko said.

She glared at him furiously.

"They are innocent! You may be okay with destroying human towns and slaughtering innocent people, but I am not!" She said.

She folded her arms over her chest and closed her eyes, calming down.

"If you'd like, think of it like this: if we allow Yomi and his army to destroy Tokyo, they'll feed on the humans there and get stronger. It would make sense that we should ensure that it doesn't happen, correct?"

Youko nodded, hand at his chin in thought.

"She made some good points Kuronue." He said.

The bat folded his arms, growling in defeat.

"Yeah… I guess so." He grumbled.

"Excellent! Now that we've reached a decision, let's beat Yomi to Tokyo!" Rirī said, taking off running.

The two demons exchanged questioning glances.

"She does know we can run about a million times faster than she can, right?" Kuronue asked.

Youko shrugged.

"You could always fly her to Tokyo." He suggested playfully.

"Keh! That was a one-time thing, Youko. It took me days to get her repulsive human stink off of me." Kuronue said with a shudder of disgust.

Youko laughed.

"Very well. I guess I'll just have to-" He stopped suddenly when an aura of powerful energy rushed straight for a point ahead of them.

Worry and fear seized Youko's heart and he quickly bolted ahead to Rirī.

**A/N: Hello my dears! I realized I haven't wrote an A/N in a while and would like to apologize for the slow update. Internet went down at my house for a while. I don't even know why 0_0  
But now that I will be having a lot of time on my hands (thank you summer) there will be many more updates. I have part 7 finished in my notebook and by golly I can't wait to catch you all up! Well, that's all I have for today so until chapter 36, I bid you all farewell! **

**-Gali**


	36. Chapter 36

Rirī turned at hearing Youko call her name and hit the ground, dogging a blast of energy.

"What on earth?" She breathed, then quickly leapt up to her feet and unsheathed her sword.

Yomi appeared before her, beside him stood Kasai. Youko was suddenly at Rirī's side and he growled when he saw Yomi.

"Kurama, it's good to see- I mean, meet you, again." Yomi said, a finger tapping his temple next to his closed, blind eyes.

"What is it you are after Yomi?" Youko demanded.

Yomi grinned, flashing his fangs and Kuronue sprang into view, standing next to Youko.

"O look what decided to crawl out of hiding." The bat said.

"Good, now you are all present. Welcome to our happy circle Kuronue." Yomi said.

Kuronue rolled his eyes and when he saw Kasai he gave a gasp.

"That's Kasai's other half? She's so creepy!" He exclaimed.

Kasai's eyes narrowed at him and she turned to Yomi.

"Can I kill him?" She asked.

Yomi chuckled.

"Not yet."

"What is it you are after Yomi?" Youko demanded again.

"It's simple really. I want to make you suffer like I have; to live the rest of your life in darkness. You allowed my light to be taken from me, now I will take yours from you." Yomi said.

Youko growled and Rirī tightened her grip on her sword, stepping forward. The thought of Youko never seeing again pained her. Those beautiful golden eyes deserved to see the world and all of its beauty.

"If you think you can blind Kurama, you have another thing coming!" She said.

"I'm with the human on this one." Kuronue agreed, stepping forward next to her.

Yomi chuckled and Kasai gave an amused smirk, causing Rirī and Kuronue to exchange questioning glances.

"You think I meant his eyes? How blind of you! Can you not see that the light in his world is the both of you?" Yomi said.

"Foolish, even I could sense that." Kasai said to Rirī, making her feel inferior.

Youko growled.

"You'll leave them out of this Yomi." He said.

Yomi folded his arms over his chest.

"I think it's perfectly fair. I have to live the rest of my life without being able to see, and you will live the rest of your life knowing that these two, who you care about most, are dead because of you." Yomi chuckled.

'_I can't allow him to do that. Both are powerful fighters. But Rirī in her weakened state and her other half as venerable as she is, she doesn't stand a chance. And Kuronue, he will risk his life for me, he's done it before.' _Youko thought as he growled at Yomi.

Rirī took a defensive stance, glaring hard at Yomi and Kasai.

"That is enough. I have had it with you Yomi. Your assaults have cost me almost everything and if you think you can use me against Kurama you are wrong." She said.

Yomi laughed at her.

"You forget slave, I own you." He said.

Kasai ran the blade of a knife over her own arm and Rirī clenched her teeth in pain, falling to her knees, a hand coming up to stop the blood flow. She fixed her glare on Kasai's untainted skin, and then smirked at her and Yomi.

"I don't belong to anyone." She said in a hard voice.

She grabbed a knife from her bag and stabbed herself in the throat.

"Rirī!"

Youko ran forward, falling to his knees next to her and gripped his hand over hers, tears in his eyes, trying to remove the knife when he noticed she wasn't bleeding. A chocked scream filled the air and he turned to see Kasai squirming violently on the ground, hands at her bleeding throat, screaming passed the blood in her mouth. Yomi backed away from her, a disgusted scowl on his face as he listened to her die.

Kasai's soul flouted back to Rirī and was reunited with her. The swordswoman removed the knife from her throat; a tiny cut the side of an infant's fingernail was all that was present. Youko held her, an arm tight around her shoulders, confused more than he had ever been in his life. Rirī stood, leaving a shocked Youko on the ground, pointing her sword at Yomi, who wore an amused expression on his face.

"How very interesting." He said. "How did you know that you wouldn't have killed yourself?"

"The effects of Akio's soul split were the same for me as for Kasai. I believed before that it would only work for her, and that it would be impossible to kill her. But earlier today, a man tried to strangle me and I felt nothing. That was when I realized we shared the same curse. I would have done this sooner, but I feared soul collectors and soul eaters would have captured the soul before it could return to me. So I decided that after going to Tokyo, I would hunt her down. However, you saved me the trouble and brought her right to me." Rirī said.

"Damn, Kasai, that's nice! Next time, would you mind sharing that with the rest of the class?" said Kuronue, who was still grasping the fact she hadn't died.

Youko still hadn't moved and she regretted not informing him sooner, though she had planned on it when they finished business in Tokyo. But after seeing how scared he was for her, she knew she should have said something about it the moment she had any information.

"How clever, but you know this only makes me want to kill you and Kuronue even more now." Yomi said.

Youko was in front of Rirī in an instant, his aura flaring out aggressively.

"You will not touch them. Go Yomi, before I loose what little grasp I have on my self-control." He growled darkly.

"That's scary Kurama. Fine, I'll go, but only for a while." Yomi said, and then disappeared.

Rirī gave a sigh of relief and sheathed her sword.

"We should get moving, in case he goes to Tokyo." She said.

The air around Youko had changed. He didn't answer her and his aura barely let up.

"Youko?" She asked.

He turned to her, his fierce and angry, making her step back in fear.

"Youko, you can calm down now. Yomi left, he's gone now." Kuronue said shakily, trying to move in between them but was too afraid of Youko to do so.

The fox demon kept his angry eyes on Rirī.

"What didn't you warn me about that?" He demanded.

"I was going to-"

"If you were going to you would have! You had plenty of time to tell us! Did you enjoy toying with my emotions? Did you get a kick out of seeing my heart break?" He yelled.

Rirī stepped back again, fear ticking her spine.

"Youko I didn't mean to-"

"Didn't meant to kill yourself? I watched you do it! I watched you gamble away your life like it was nothing, like I was nothing! Damn it Rirī, why would you do that?" He said, emotion choking out his yell.

Rirī felt her heart break as she realized the obvious: Youko was in love with her._ 'If we weren't enemies, I would love you.' _He had said that so long ago and had spoken truthfully. The signs were everywhere. When he would hold her, told her how much he cared about her, the time he had kissed her forehead, how protective he was of her, and how he wanted to make her value her life. He had tried to show her and tell her in his own way. '_Strange indeed'_ had been his way of saying '_I love you'_ and she was too foolish to see it. And now he felt as though she had played his emotions just for fun.

"Youko, I didn't know." She whispered, hanging her head in shame.

He ignored her and let his aura subside. He looked to Kuronue, who stared wide eyed at the two.

"Let's go Kuronue." He said, turning away.

The bat nodded and followed, glancing back at Rirī and moved his head to get her to follow. She nodded and began to walk after them.

"Not you, Rirī." Youko's hard voice said.

She stopped, looking up after him, his back turned to her, Kuronue staring at him, shocked but silent.

"Youko-"

"Don't say my name human. You will address me as Kurama and forget my true name, understand?" Youko interrupted his voice cold.

Rirī wanted to protest but stopped herself.

'_I deserve this for hurting him.'_ She decided.

She nodded, hanging her head down sadly, unable to answer due to the lump in her throat.

"Good. Let's go Kuronue." He said.

"Please don't leave me behind!" Rirī cried despite herself.

He seemed to flinch at that and he stopped.

"Do not follow us, human. If I see you again I will kill you." He said, and then he continued on.

Kuronue looked at Rirī, pitying the girl greatly, giving her an apologetic look and then turned to follow Youko.  
Rirī didn't break as she watched them leave. She didn't cry when she saw Youko leave her life forever. As their silhouettes faded from view, she fell to her knees, staring into her hands.

"I'm so sorry…"

End of Part Four


	37. Chapter 37

Rirī stayed there until dusk and only moved because her growling stomach ordered her to, continuing to Tokyo. Youko and Kuronue had gone the opposite direction so she was certain that they wouldn't cross paths. As she walked her heart ached.

'_Who knew you could mess things up so bad.'_ Kasai said.

'_Don't talk to me. This is your fault.'_ Rirī said back.

'_I am you. If it's my fault then it is your fault as well. Are you not the one who got us in this mess in the first place?' _Kasai asked.

'Leave me alone.' Rirī said miserably.

She reached Tokyo a little after dark, stayed at an inn and tried to sleep. However nightmares plagued her once again. Images of her master's cruel eyes and Youko's livid eyes kept her up most of the night. When the sun rose, she left the inn and went into town. The market place was lively and people moved about their lives happily, making Rirī feel even more out of place as she walked somberly from shop to shop looking for a decent shirt. A sea blue shirt caught her attention and after inspecting it she decided to purchase it. She looked up to see the shopkeeper looking at her disapprovingly.

"I would like to buy this." She said, holding up a money bag to him to prove she could pay.

"Where is your husband, or your father? Why are the men in your family allowing you to impersonate a man? It is dishonorable." The shopkeeper asked after she paid.

"I have no family; dishonor is not something I am concerned with." She replied, leaving to go to another shop.

She continued through town and bought a new bag and some rice. She left Tokyo soon after, seeing that Yomi didn't attack after all.

'_Kuronue would yell at me for wasting the trip here, and Youko would laugh at us both.'_ She thought fondly_. 'O, I mean Kurama.'_ She remembered somberly.

'_Stop with this melancholy crap. It's making me nauseous_.' Kasai said distastefully.

'_I thought I told you to leave me alone._' Rirī reminded her angrily.

Kasai went back to her silence. Rirī went and changed in the woods, putting Youko's shirt in her new bag then making her way to a stream to wash out the blood stains. She was there for a time but she didn't mind; she wanted to keep her hands full. She finished around late afternoon and tried to figure out where she needed to go. Being a wanderer, it's what she was used to, but now that she was alone again she felt how isolated she was. The weather, at least, was warm and it lightened her spirits a little.

After the shirt dried, she put it back in her pack and began to walk towards the ocean. Youko's tale of traveling the world sounded pleasant. Maybe an expedition of sorts would do her good. The ocean was far away but traveling never bothered her before with a determined huff, she straightened up and walked southeast. The walk was long that day, and painfully quiet.

'_How did I manage this silence before?'_ She wondered.

'_Because you didn't know what it was like to have people care for you. Also, you didn't have a handsome fox demon following you around who was in love with you.'_ Kasai said.

Rirī didn't reply, mainly because she believed her other half was right. She continued on, trying to clear her head of everything that had to do with Kurama, which was impossible, just like forgetting Ana and Sasuke. They were her only family and they all abandoned her and left her for dead. They knew the demons would have killed her had Youko not shown up to save her, just like Youko knows Yomi is still going to kill her to get him, though it won't. Yomi may keep up on his word on making her his slave just to make everything ironic. And ironic it would be. Rirī had spent her most of her life as a slave and had escaped, using her new skills to protect others from slavery and in saving one demon slave, she had condemned herself to slavery once again.

In that moment, Rirī decided that leaving the country was the best idea. In Japan, she was still an outlaw and was on the run from Yomi and the law. It would be safer for her to return to her father's country, Ireland, and hunt down the bandits that destroyed her village so long ago. It wasn't something she wanted to do, for it was a path she vowed never to take because her father always told her that revenge was a sin worse than the crime committed towards you. She had hoped she could lead a nobler life, but now that she thought about it, all she has done was get herself in trouble and save the wrong people. It would be nobler to find the people who killed her village and make them pay for what they did.

Her shoulder still hurt from her fight with Akio's Ultimate Warrior, though she had tried to ignore it by pretending it wasn't there, and her mind trick worked while she was with Kurama and Kuronue because they provided a distraction. But now it was her, the forest path, and her wound. She looked up at the sun as it hid behind a huge puffy cloud and tried to distract her mind with that. The cloud was enormous and with the sun hiding behind it, it seemed as though the world was under a huge tree, hiding from the heat of the early autumn sun. The path under her feet shifted and leaves crunched under her bamboo shoes. The birds sang back and forth about their migration to places of warmer seasons. The sun emerged from its hiding place and the world was quiet for a moment, basking in its warm rays of golden light.

As the rest of the world returned to its former activities, Rirī remained looking up at the sun, remembering everything she was trying so hard to forget.


	38. Chapter 38

Kuronue followed behind Youko quietly, too afraid to bother the infuriated fox demon. Night fell and melted into morning and drifted to noon, leaving Kuronue to walk behind his still angry friend. As evening began to approach again, he gave into the silence.

"We are not really leaving her are we?" He asked.

"We are."

The bat demon stopped and glared at the kitsune.

"You're an ass." He said.

Youko turned and glared back at him.

"What was that?" He growled.

Kuronue crossed his arms over his chest casually.

"You heard me, Youko. I said you're an ass. What you did to that poor girl was an ass move." He said.

"She deserved it." Youko said.

"Do you know what you've done to her? Or were you too caught up in your new found emotions that you overlooked it? You were careless enough to get caught by a witch that Kasai had to kill in order to save you, getting her framed for the murder of the entire Collins family and making her an outlaw for the government to chase around the rest of her life, and that's if she isn't so heartbroken that she'll let them find her. You killed the whole town of Tataraba, which was her only 'home'. And now you left her wounded and venerable to attacks from Yomi, who has sworn to find her and either kill her or make her his slave." Kuronue said.

"She toyed with my emotions." Youko said.

"Idiot! She wasn't thinking about you. She was thinking about all the people she would save by taking her soul back. If she really wanted to hurt you, do you really think she would have reacted the way she did when you left her and called her a human?" Kuronue asked.

"That's what she is, Kuronue. You called her a human." Youko insisted.

"Yeah but that was how we were. We would tease each other and be rude and mean. You are the one who knows her true name and calls her by it. You are the one who was romantically involved with her. You are also the one who talks about how much you hate humans. You calling her a human the way you did, you may as well have said that she was nothing but a cockroach to you. I understand why you were mad, I was mad too. She should have told us her theories. But Youko, you took it too far."

"Why do you care? Isn't she just a human?" Youko asked, his voice sad.

"Not to you she isn't. She means the world to you and you know it. Can you stop acting like a petty human woman now? Kasai is probably in Tokyo right now making sure Yomi doesn't attack and you're standing here like an idiot. Let's go back and find her before Yomi finds her, kills her, and you regret this for the rest of our lives." Kuronue said.

Youko bowed his head in thought. He had never had a problem like this before due to the fact he never acted on emotion. He winced as he recalled everything he had said to her before he turned his back to her and left.

"What would I say to her?" He asked.

"An apology would be good. Maybe you could tell her how you really feel? The poor girl has had the biggest crush on you and I think you may have done more to hurt her than you meant to." Kuronue said.

'_Kuronue is right. My choices have not been thought out like they should have been. I have taken everything from her and leaving her would not fix it; it only makes it worse. I have made her even more vulnerable.'_ He thought.

He looked up to Kuronue and nodded.

"Let's go." He said.

They took off, backtracking to the spot where they had left the swordswoman; the sun disappearing in the east when they reached the empty clearing. Kuronue sniffed the air carefully for Rirī's scent.

"She didn't leave until dusk yesterday." He observed.

Youko clenched his teeth in anger.

"She headed to Tokyo then?" He asked.

"Yeah; she must've stayed true to protecting those humans." Kuronue replied.

Youko nodded and Kuronue stood.

"Why would she do that?" Youko asked.

"Do what?" Kuronue asked, looking to Youko in confusion.

"Why would she stay in one place until dusk?"

Kuronue chuckled lightly.

"Maybe because she has the same feelings for you that you have for her?" Kuronue stated like it was obvious.

Youko snorted in doubt.

"Even if she did, after what I told her and after I left her, she most likely hates me." Youko said.

Kuronue rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"That woman must have taken your brain with her. Think a little will you?" Kuronue said.

Youko sighed and straightened.

"We better hurry and catch up." He said, then began running towards Tokyo.

Kuronue smirked and flew after him.


	39. Chapter 39

Rirī continued walking for another day and one morning, found a town on the side of the Tokyo Bay. She decided to save herself a long journey and follow the current to the ocean. She boarded a ship and made her way to the railing on the top deck. It was a small ferry like boat that would take her down to where the bay met the ocean so she could board a ship meant for the Eastern Sea. She sighed, breathing in the misty air.

'_I love this. The water is peaceful. There is nothing here that will make me remember.'_ She thought.

She leaned against the railing on her arms and looked out at the town as it passed by. It truly was as peaceful as the water. Because it was still early, ships were getting ready to leave the docks and fishermen were saying goodbye to their wives and children. Rirī smiled sadly as she watched their simple lives follow a peaceful and happy routine. She remembered how her mother and father would look at each other with the same adoration and love. She always wondered if someone would share that with her. Her hand found its way to the bottom of her bag, where Youko's shirt lay, neatly folded. Her fingers stroked the soft cloth and her heart began to ache.

'_I wish you could have let me see you one more time Kurama. Then I could tell you how sorry I am for not recognizing you harbored the same feelings that I had for you.' _She thought.

She watched as the town passed by, followed by dense, unpopulated forests. She began to wonder what it would be like to live in a peaceful village again, even if she were alone. She could grow crops and sell them in the market, or open a dojo for swordsmanship. Rirī smiled at the thought of being surrounded by children every day without having to fear for her life. The thought of peace made her heart fill with a bittersweet bliss.

Voices shouted behind her and Rirī turned to see a small river boat pull alongside the ferry. Men jumped aboard, rifles in their hands. From what she could tell, they were pirates. The men began to attack the passengers of the ferry and cornered a woman and her two children. Quickly, Rirī sprang into action, leaping in front of the man and confronting him with her sword drawn. Now closer, she saw they all wore masks.

"Get out of my way or die!" The man yelled, his voice muffled by his mask.

Rirī didn't move, and as a reply, took a defensive stance. The man fired his rifle at her, a ball of iron hitting her in the right shoulder but she ran forward and killed him. As he fell she heard the woman give a shaky sigh of relief.

"You are not safe yet. Go; take your family from here quickly. Jump overboard if you must but do not get caught." Rirī ordered.

The woman nodded and she and her children disappeared as Rirī faced off against more pirates who witnessed her murder their comrade. She tried to avoid being surrounded, however, there were too many of them and they were much faster than she was. She held her ground, ignoring the new pain in her shoulder.

'_Pirates attacking in a bay and in broad daylight? Where are the authorities? Why attack this close to town?'_ She wondered.

She was surrounded, rifles aimed at her from all sides. Quickly she tried to think of a strategy but too late. The pirates fired, balls of iron pierced her arms, legs, sides, and ribs. She screamed in agony and fell to the deck. Pain was everywhere but she still tried to grip her sword. She froze when she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel press against her cheek.

"Wait."

The rifle was taken away and a hand grabbed her by her ponytail; yanking her head up to look at a man who appeared to their caption and also looked identical to her master. The man smirked at her horrified eyes.

"I can't believe it! After all these years I have found my father's old whore on a ferry! What luck!" he laughed.

Rirī's blood went cold and fear paralyzed her. Her master's son was the cruelest of all the men he had forced on her. He did such horrible things to her and she snapped out of her trance. She reached for her sword but pain stopped her, making her cry out. He laughed at her and released her hair, letting her head slam against the deck.

"This is wonderful! I always wanted to find this whore and avenge my father's death. Get her to the ship! I don't want to be here when the police arrive, now move it!" He yelled.

"Aye, Caption Takai!" The men answered.

Rirī screamed in pain as she was roughly picked up and taken to the ferry, her sword and bag left behind; the bag's contents spilled across the deck. She fought them, struggling and squirming against their rough holds on her but they hit her hard in the head and knocked her unconscious.


	40. Chapter 40

The late afternoon sun shone brightly over head as Youko and Kuronue made their way to a small town on Tokyo Bay. After following Rirī's scent to the docks, it became clear that tracking the swordswoman would be impossible.

"It's as if she knew we were tracking her and she's trying to evade us. How are we supposed to find her now that she's on the bay?" Kuronue grumbled.

Youko gave a sigh of frustration, trying to think of where she could've gone so they could intercept her, however, he was clueless. He then noticed a crowed on the other end of the dock.

"What's that about?" Kuronue asked.

Youko shrugged but decided to investigate. He and Kuronue pushed through the crowed to see a ferry boat coming into dock. Before Youko could wonder why the ferry was coming into port so early he noticed that the hull of the small ship was smoking and damaged badly. Bodies scattered the deck as well as gunpowder and blood. A woman and her children clung to some roped at the bow, swimming in secret almost under the ferry. The authorities quickly rushed to the docks, pushing past people and diving into the water to help the woman and her children bring the ferry into dock.

"What the hell happened?" Kuronue whispered sharply.

"From the scent of gun powder, I would have to say pirates from the Eastern Sea. But what would Eastern Sea pirates be doing near Tokyo Bay?" Youko wondered.

"I'm going to go investigate. Something here isn't right." Kuronue said, flying over to the crime scene.

Youko nodded and moved to listen to the interrogation the police were giving the woman who survived so he could be enlightened. The woman was sobbing as she held her children close to her as she learned that her family was all that were spared. A policeman pressed her with questions; "what happened?" was his first.

"It was pirates from what I could tell. They came from the sea and after boarding they began killing everyone in sight with their rifles. They left after everyone was dead." She said through frightened tears.

"How did you and your children survive?"

She flinched at this and more tears came.

"It was a woman with a sword. My children and I were being cornered by a pirate when she appeared. She took a bullet in the shoulder and killed him, telling us to go overboard if we wanted to live. From in the water, I heard that she was taken captive by their caption." She said.

Youko's tail twitched uneasily. Something about this story…

"Youko!"

The kitsune looked up as his bat demon friend landed next to him.

"What is it Kuronue?" He asked, a sting of fear in his stomach.

The bat met his eyes with a hard look that Youko couldn't read.

"You need to see this." He said.

Youko followed Kuronue to the crime scene and looked around.

"See what?" He asked.

Kuronue led him to a pool of blood and several familiar items: a sword and a white shirt. Youko's sting of fear was now something larger that he could barely comprehend. Without a second thought he ran towards the sea. Quickly, Kuronue gathered up the bag of rice, the sword, and shirt and flew after him. Youko pushed himself, willing himself to go faster.

"Youko we'll never catch them!" Kuronue called down to him.

Youko ignored his friend, too consumed in fear and anger. How dare any creature make him feel such a thing as fear. Rage made his blood flow quicken and his heart beat race. He would reach them.

Suddenly he had to stop, due to a cliff that overlooked the sea. Ten miles out was a ship and a small raid ship making its way to it. With his demonic sight, Youko could see Rirī's still form in the boat, as well as several men with rifles. Kuronue landed beside Youko, panting.

"You've never ran so fast before." He panted.

"Can you fly out to her?" Youko demanded.

Kuronue shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Youko, I can't. I am exhausted from keeping up with you and their gunmen would shoot me down easily." He said.

Youko clenched his teeth at Kuronue's excuses and went to dive off the cliff when the bat stopped him.

"Let go of me!" Youko roared.

"They will kill you too, Youko. We are better alive so that we can help her. If we act on emotions and anger we will not accomplish anything but death. Right now there is nothing we can do." Kuronue said.

Youko had realized this, for somewhere in his mind something had screamed it to him, but it was drowned out by the screaming of his emotions. However, he couldn't accept the helplessness offered to him. He couldn't watch as those filthy sea humans took Rirī away while he could do nothing about it.

"Kuronue,"

The bat demon looked at his friend carefully.

"Yes?" He asked hesitantly.

Youko's eyes hardened as he watched the pirates throw Rirī aboard their ship.

"Let's get a ship."

**A/N: Golly Gee! The big 40! YAY!**

**Sorry for the long wait! I have been a busy little bee! Not really I am just super lazy and stuff.**

**But in all actuality, I have been getting more ideas for this story and several others so look out for those when this one is done. ;)**

**Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story. It means the world to me **** Hope you are not hating me too badly for past chapter events and stuff.**


	41. Chapter 41

The world rocked back and forth, causing Rirī to feel dizzy in her unconsciousness. She opened her eyes to see a wooden ceiling above her and she knew she was on a ship. She tried to move but found her wrists cuffed to the wooden table she was laying on, as well as her ankles. Her brilliant hair had been cleaned and taken from its ribbon, fanned out above her head and the ends spilling onto the floor. She was grateful that she wore clothing; a grey shirt and white pants. Her wounds were dressed and even though they hurt, they didn't hurt as bad as they should have.

The door opened with a slight creak and an old man walked in. He walked to where Rirī lay strapped to the table and looked at her with sad blue eyes then began to look over her wounds.

"You are nearly healed." He said, his worn hands working with expert care.

"Why do they heal me?" Rirī asked him.

A grim look was on his face and he did not answer. She understood and stared at the ceiling while the waves rocked the ship in a steady rhythm.

"What is your name?" She asked him.

He seemed startled by her question but gave her a small smile.

"Yūkan." He replied.

He removed her shirt from her torso and examined her ribs, which made her bite her lip in pain."

"I'm sorry miss." He said quietly.

She shook her head.

"It's my own fault for not guarding myself. If I am able to escape, it's a mistake I will not make again." She said.

He made no reply to this, but marveled at what he saw above her ribs.

"You have a good many scars." He remarked.

Rirī chuckled bitterly at that.

"They like to cause pain; it's their nature. I am nothing but a toy." She said

She felt tears threaten to appear but she quickly locked them away.

"I'm sorry. You seem like a nice girl; I wish this hadn't happened to you." Yūkan said.

"Better me than someone else. I can take pain and suffering; it's all I've known." She replied.

'_Except when I was with Kurama; even when I was in pain I was happy because I was with him.' _She thought.

"What's your name, miss?" He asked.

She met his blue eyes with a small smile.

"Kasai." She said.

He put her shirt back in place and put a warm hand on her forehead.

"You have bright fires in your heat, Kasai. Do not let them die." He said; and with that, he left.

Rirī stared at the closed door a moment then up at the ceiling, a candle flickering somewhere she couldn't see. The light flickered against the ceiling, making her slightly dizzy.

'_He's different. When I escape, I will spare his life if I can afford it, for he has showed me such kindness.'_ She thought.

As the ship rode out the waves of the sea, Rirī rode out her waves of pain. Her body screamed at her, begging to move, but her wrists and ankles were bolted down. She thrashed her legs about, trying to break free of the bolts holding her in place, but she only succeeded in cutting up her limbs. Rirī glared at the bolts on her wrists in anger, yanking them as well, biting her lip as it make them bleed and hurt badly.

Now her body ached at these new pains as well as the old and she lay whimpering as the world around her moved.

Hours went by like centuries and Rirī tried to think of a way to escape. There wasn't a window in the room and from the sound the door made when Yūkan left, she knew the door was locked. Ship doors, however were not solid, especially in the case of a poor pirate ship such as this one. They needed speed more than quality and solid wood was the last thing they were worried about when it came to their doors. If she hit the door in the right place with the right amount of force, it would easily come off the hinges and she could break out. Once out, however, she would have to face the pirates and their guns again and she didn't know how she would do that without her sword.

The situation was getting more and more hopeless. Even if she could fight them off, she wouldn't be able to unless she was freed from the bolts.

A few more hours passed and Yūkan returned, sitting next to her. He pulled a small container of rice porridge from his sleeve and began to feed it to her. Rirī watched him carefully. His body was tense and he moved as if he was ready to change what he was doing in a second's notice.

"You are not supposed to feed me, are you?" She asked quietly.

He shook his head slowly.

"Then why do you do it? You'll risk getting caught." She said.

"Don't worry about me, Kasai. I know more about the sea and it's gods than our Caption. Even if I am caught, he cannot afford to lose me; I have had too much experience." He replied.

"All the same, it's not safe to assume such things. Do not risk your life for me, Yūkan. I do not want you getting killed just to help me." She said.

"I am old. I haven't a life to risk, Kasai. Besides, I don't want you to go through this again." He said.

"Why do you care of such things?" Rirī asked.

He sighed, setting the now empty bowl aside.

"I lost my granddaughter to slavers. I always cursed myself for not being there for her after her parents died, but as a pirate, I couldn't allow a woman on our ship; it was bad luck. Now I see you here, same age as she might be, and wonder if your family is cursing never being able to save you." He said.

"I have no family; they are dead. I was on my own since I was young. No one is looking for me, I assure you." She said.

He looked at her sadly.

"I'm sorry Kasai." He said, placing his large wrinkled hand over her own.

"I am sorry as well, that you lost your granddaughter." She said.

"It's the past. Besides, I see a lot of her in you." He said.

Rirī could understand that and mentally accepted his help.

After all, she won't be able to escape this Hell on her own.

**A/N: Hey my lovelies! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update. I know some of you really hated me these past weeks but I delivered! I hope you all are not too mad at me.**


	42. Chapter 42

Two weeks went by and Rirī was healing beautifully, thanks to Yūkan sneaking her rice. At the end of those two weeks, they arrived in Kagoshima.

"Tonight they are going to raid a nearby town and they will not return until tomorrow. They are only leaving behind the larger gunmen and if you move quickly enough you could get passed them. I will come tonight after they have gone and free you. Be ready." Yūkan told her that morning.

Rirī wasn't certain this plan would work, and she didn't know anything of the world outside her tiny, windowless room. She decided to trust the old man. After all, he did take good care of her. Not a single man came in to have their way with her and she was very grateful.

She stared up at the ceiling, familiar with the grooves in the wood and different tones of brown. She wasn't wanted dead or alive in Kagoshima, right? Maybe she could continue wandering here.

'_But my money and sword are gone. I even lost all I had left of Kurama. Damn! I'm such a fool for letting this happen.'_ She thought.

The door opened, too early to be Yūkan, and she knew she was in trouble. Takai smirked at her, his frame bigger than when he was younger but thinner. Piracy hadn't treated him well. He removed her shirt to look at the wounds that were no longer there, as well as another few places. Rirī thrashed her limbs in another attempt to break free of her bolts but only succeeded in cutting herself again and Takai laughing at her.

"You're more spirited than you were before. Life as a criminal must've made you even more fun. And it looks like the old man patched you up real good. You healed beautifully." He said in a way that disgusted Rirī.

She glared at him and turned her face away defiantly. He grabbed her chin and made her look at him as he spoke smoothly.

"Now don't be like that, I'm not going to touch you. In fact, I have decided to sell you. I know that as soon as I set you free you will murder me so I have sold you to a demon that can control you and teach you your place. He is a famous bandit in Demon world and quite merciless so you will be well taken care of." He said.

Kurama came to Rirī's mind and her heart leapt into her throat.

Did he find out that she had been taken and came to save her?

"Who-"

She was cut off by a punch in the face.

"You were not given permission to speak slave." Takai said calmly.

The blow made Rirī accidently bite into her cheek. Her tongue probed the rough, sore flesh, her mouth filling with blood. She swallowed it, knowing if she spat it out, he would hit her again. The blood made her gag and she coughed.

"Now don't get sick. I need you in decent condition for our demon. We will be going tonight, so if you want some sleep I suggest you sleep now." He said.

He grabbed her face roughly and kissed her in a disgusting manner. Rirī didn't have time to try to head butt him or try to bite off his tongue before he drew away and grinned at her angry face. He gave one of her breasts a squeeze before he left. When the door shut, Rirī spat; spat until her saliva glands could produce anything for her to spit.

Was it too much to hope that the demon Takai spoke of was Kurama? She thought about if more and decided that it had to be Kurama; or at least Kuronue and either way, she was saved. She smiled as she thought of her arguments with Kuronue and her pleasant conversations with Kurama. God knows she missed him more than anything. And all of that was to be hers once again.

Her stomach did flips and she wouldn't have been able to sit down if she wasn't bolted down. She was saved! She only needed to wait until night fall.


	43. Chapter 43

Rirī didn't know she had fallen asleep until Yūkan came into the room, startling her awake. He quickly unchained her and pulled her to her numb feet.

"Hurry! If you go now, you can go unseen." He told her in an urgent whisper.

"But Yūkan, I am free." She said.

He gave her the most confused look Rirī had ever seen on a man.

"Free? What do you mean Kasai?" He demanded.

"The demon who bought me; he's here to free me. I know him." She said excitedly.

He gave her a doubtful look, his eyebrows coming together in concern.

"Have you gone mad?" He asked.

"No, Yūkan, I know this demon. We used to travel together not too long ago. He's come to save me, I'm sure of it!" She insisted.

"Kasai, this demon is not some low class vegetarian demon. He is a powerful demon who stole from the monarchs of Demon World. If you stay, you will become his slave or be eaten; maybe something much worse. You have to get out of here, now." He said.

"But Yūkan! He is-"

"Miss Kasai, please, just go!" He ordered pulling her towards the door.

"I am staying here. I just have to wait." Rirī said, pulling away from him.

The elderly man glared at her.

"Do you even know what you're talking about? This demon is a fierce killer! There is no way he is the one you traveled with." Yūkan said.

"Trust me, he's really nice. He's my best friend." She said.

"Please Kasai." He begged.

"What's going on?" A voice called.

Yūkan's gaze was fierce.

"Last chance."

Rirī looked at him and nodded. She rushed past him and out the door into the hallway. Her head spun and her breath came fast and short, her limbs shaking. She slammed herself into the wall to dodge a bullet. The gunman went to reload another round but Rirī quickly ran forward and hit the gun away, running up to the main deck. The night air was freezing against her skin and the wind cut right through her. The men from the bottom decks followed her up, shouting and loading their weapons. No one was absent; even Takai was present, making his way back to the ship in haste.

Dodging a dozen more bullets, Rirī cursed and dove overboard into the water. The water was a million times worse than the air; piercing every inch of her body. She tried to ignore it and get her weak, shaky limbs to move. She began to swim to the surface and gasp in air. Shouts were heard from the ship behind her and she began to swim away quickly, like a frightened beast fleeing for its life. A shower of bullets rained around her. Two pierced her calf and another pierced her shoulder blade. Now swimming was horribly painful.

'_Keep going; don't stop until you are out of range!'_ She ordered herself.

She kicked at the water frantically, clawing at it with her cupped hands desperately. Another ball of iron pierced the center of her back on her spine and suddenly she couldn't move. She screamed in agony and water flooded into her lungs. Lantern lights glimmered on the surface above her and she reached for it with her mind, but it only faded further and further from her reach. She was sinking…

Takai cursed as he watched his slave disappear in the water of the harbor. He leaned on the railing of the deck; resting his weight on his forearms.

"I'm not sure if I am to be happy she is dead or if I should be angry I lost the money I could've made selling her." He thought aloud.

Footsteps approached him from behind and paused a few feet away. Takai turned and bowed low to his customer.

"I am so sorry my Lord Yomi. I am afraid she has been killed." He said.

The demon smiled as he looked into the dark water, the refection of lantern light in his eyes showed a sick patience and eerie amusement.

"She has not been killed, Caption. You do not realize how powerful she is. Kasai is most defiantly alive."


End file.
